Piker says Middle East would be more secure if Iran had a nuclear weapon

Hasan Piker on Thursday said allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons would make the Middle East more “stable.” The United States has for decades made it its policy to keep Iran from building nuclear weapons, with the Trump administration arguing vehemently that allowing a radical jihadist Islamic regime access to such power would invite armageddon and trigger World War III. President Donald Trump’s stated purpose for launching a war against Iran in February was to prevent the country from having nuclear arms, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arguing “it’s common sense” that “regimes like Iran hell-bent on prophetic Islamist delusions cannot have nuclear weapons.” Piker begged to differ during an interview with The Axios Show released on YouTube Friday. He said that as a “sovereign nation,” Iran has a right to defend itself “regardless of its domestic policies.” He said that while he is against any country having nuclear arms, allowing Iran to have such weapons would help stabilize the Middle East. “Countries that would have nuclear arms in an age of nuclear proliferation are the only countries that can generate true sovereignty,” Piker said. “Now, having said that, do I want Iran to have nuclear arms? No, but I also don’t want America or Russia or China to have nuclear arms either.“I’m not advocating, I’m not trying to, you know, send Iran enriched nuclear uranium, nuclear grade enriched uranium,” he said, referring to materials essential for building nuclear bombs. “But with respect to Iran, I think the nuclear conversation is a distraction. Time and time again, they have shown, the Iranian government, regardless of whether you want to trust them or not, you can just look at their actions, have proven that they are utilizing the conversation of enriched uranium as a point of leverage to bring America back to the table to get sanctions relief.” Piker’s remarks are notable as the Twitch-streamer-turned-political activist has gained prominence stumping for socialist-leaning candidates across the country ahead of the November midterm elections. One of those candidates was Abdul el Sayed in Michigan, where he is running for a U.S. Senate seat against rival Mike Rogers. After repeatedly campaigning with Piker, el Sayed has distanced himself from the socialist Twitch streamer following the Michigan primary, including after he said the U.S. was “worse” than Osama Bin Laden’s al Qaeda, the radical Islamic terrorist network responsible for the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. During his appearance on The Axios Show, Piker said al Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. was “blowback” for actions the U.S. undertook in the Middle East during that time period. He said that didn’t “justify” the terrorist attacks, but suggested U.S. “wrongdoing” was “responsible” for 9/11.At one point, Piker was pressed on a section of Bin Laden’s infamous 2002 “Letter to America,” in which the radical Islamic jihadist questioned whether it is “in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?” After Piker labeled the passage from the letter as “the definition of blowback,” he was pressed on what the difference is between the U.S. having “deserved” 9/11 and “blowback.” “I think the difference between deserved and blowback is the justification,” he said. “Blowback is not a justification. Blowback is just what it is. A justification offers either a moral condemnation or a moral acceptance of the act. I do not accept the act of 9/11 morally.” The exchange came after the reporter asked Piker about his comment “America deserved 9/11” from 2019. Piker later walked back and apologized for the statement, saying that he “obviously” did not mean it and that “within context I was simply referencing the fact that all of the foreign policy decisions and our arming of insurgent groups in the region and our efforts in destabilizing the Middle East have a direct consequence, a boomerang effect, rather if you will, in causing 9/11.” Piker suggested Thursday that he makes “incendiary” statements to raise awareness about “structural violence and state violence [that] is oftentimes made to be invisible,” saying that in the U.S., he believes people nationwide are the victims of an oppressive system. He said such language helps to “identify the enmity that many people in America also feel as a part of their daily experience,” as he noted that his top goal is to unlock “class consciousness” in the U.S.HASAN PIKER BECOMES BOTH A DEMOCRATIC KINGMAKER — AND POLITICAL LIABILITY“I’ve always wanted to foment class consciousness in America because I feel like a lot of people in the working class in this country don’t recognize themselves as being a part of the working class, where they [instead see themselves as] entrepreneurs,” Piker said during the MS Now Clock It interview. “There’s a famous quote … that I always point to: ‘Socialism will never work in America because the working class do not see themselves as an exploited proletariat, but temporarily embarrassed millionaires.’ And I feel like that’s so perfectly illustrative of the way that many Americans see themselves. “Sometimes you have to put forth your beliefs regardless of whether or not they are going to be the most appealing, and I think the successes of the pro-Palestine movement in terms of how much of a sea change that has taken place in the American consciousness issue in the last three years is proof of that reality,” he said.