What Joe Kent has said about United States war with Iran

Kent says restraining Israel is the necessary first step toward any peace and that Trump has the power to do it.

“He's got to restrain the Israelis before he can even get the Iranians to the negotiating table”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 9:28

Kent is skeptical a ceasefire will hold and fears rapid escalation while combat forces are in theater.

“A ceasefire, I'm skeptical. Again, until the Israelis are restrained, there won't be a ceasefire”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 12:34

Kent says all U.S. intelligence agencies assessed Iran's religious prohibition on building a nuclear weapon was holding.

“we knew all 18 intelligence agencies agreed that the fatwa against actually making a nuclear weapon was holding and the Iranians were not making a nuclear weapon”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 16:22

Kent argues Israeli officials and allied media shifted the American red line from nuclear weapons to any enrichment, which he calls factually wrong.

“So they moved the red line by saying enrichment. Iran can have no enrichment. Enrichment equals a nuclear weapon, which is just fundamentally not true”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 14:20

Kent predicts Iran's new leadership will abandon moderation and pursue a nuclear weapon after the killing of the Supreme Leader.

“now the Iranians more than likely are going to change their strategic outlook. That's my guess”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 16:34

Kent says he supported killing Qasem Soleimani but has always opposed a regime change war inside Iran.

“I will debate anybody on the utility of killing Qasem Soleimani. President Trump was justified, and he was correct, and he was bold for killing Qasem Soleimani”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 22:42

Kent says the United States has no real strategic goal beyond a list of targets, while Israel's goal of toppling the regime is clear.

“we just list off the tactical punch list of things we want to bomb to take out so the Iranians don't have any more. And to me, that's not a real strategic goal”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 32:54

Kent warns that putting U.S. troops on Kharg Island would hand Iran a strategic victory and leave troops as sitting ducks.

“there's ballistics, there's drones. They would be sitting ducks in that area”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 34:48

Kent says Trump should take advice from the vice president and the Director of National Intelligence rather than Graham, Cruz and Mark Levin.

“he has been taking more advice, obviously, from Lindsey Graham, from Ted Cruz, from Mark Levin on TV”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 36:55

Kent recommends conditioning Israel's defensive support on U.S. approval of its operations to force it off the offensive.

“we are going to start taking away features of your defense system to the point where all you can do with your military basically is stay on the defense”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:16:38

Kent proposes lifting some oil sanctions on Iran as a carrot to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lower fuel prices.

“I think lifting the sanctions and letting them get a lot of their oil introduced back into the world market I think that's actually a pretty good carrot to get them to the table”

The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:18:18