SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Activists protest over Trump's plans for the Iran deal in front of the White House on Thursday. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Polling Makes Clear: Americans Don't Want War With Iran
On the eve of a new round of JCPOA talks, a new survey shows that today’s saber rattling is a bit unwelcome.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/08/04/poll-americans-have-no-taste-for-w…
Aug 05, 2022
On the eve of a new round of negotiations between the world's powers and Iran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, the vast majority of voters believe that the United States should use diplomacy--and not military force--to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, according to a recent poll from Data For Progress.
In a survey of 1,330 likely voters, 78 percent of respondents said Washington must use its best diplomatic tools to "put an immediate end to Iran's nuclear weapons program," while only 12 percent agreed with the statement that the United States "must go to war with Iran in order to slow down its nuclear weapons development." (It should be noted that despite the poll's wording, the U.S. intelligence community and the International Atomic Energy Agency have not at this time made an assessment that Iran is embarking on a nuclear weapons program.)
The poll shows a range of potentially strong messages for those who advocate a return to the Iran nuclear deal. It also indicates that, even after two years of President Joe Biden dragging his feet on a return to the accord, Americans have little appetite for alternative approaches to resolving the issue.
In a second framing of the question, 74 percent of likely voters polled said they supported a deal that would use international monitoring to stop Iran's nuclear program from progressing. On the other side, eight percent favored military action that would set the program back "by years," and five percent supported the current path, even if it would allow Iran to develop a weapon in the next year.
Notably, the survey showed that a slim majority (56 percent) of Republicans would support a "new agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program," even if that accord was based on the original deal.
If Iran does manage to develop a nuclear weapon, respondents said overwhelmingly that they would primarily blame either Biden or former President Donald Trump. Responses fell along partisan lines, with 62 percent of Democrats blaming Trump and 61 percent of Republicans putting the responsibility on Biden's shoulders.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Responsible Statecraft
Connor Echols
Connor Echols is a reporter for Responsible Statecraft. He was previously an associate editor at the Nonzero Foundation, where he co-wrote a weekly foreign policy newsletter. Echols recently completed a fellowship with the Arabic Center for Study Abroad in Amman, Jordan, and he received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, where he studied journalism and Middle East and North African Studies.
On the eve of a new round of negotiations between the world's powers and Iran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, the vast majority of voters believe that the United States should use diplomacy--and not military force--to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, according to a recent poll from Data For Progress.
In a survey of 1,330 likely voters, 78 percent of respondents said Washington must use its best diplomatic tools to "put an immediate end to Iran's nuclear weapons program," while only 12 percent agreed with the statement that the United States "must go to war with Iran in order to slow down its nuclear weapons development." (It should be noted that despite the poll's wording, the U.S. intelligence community and the International Atomic Energy Agency have not at this time made an assessment that Iran is embarking on a nuclear weapons program.)
The poll shows a range of potentially strong messages for those who advocate a return to the Iran nuclear deal. It also indicates that, even after two years of President Joe Biden dragging his feet on a return to the accord, Americans have little appetite for alternative approaches to resolving the issue.
In a second framing of the question, 74 percent of likely voters polled said they supported a deal that would use international monitoring to stop Iran's nuclear program from progressing. On the other side, eight percent favored military action that would set the program back "by years," and five percent supported the current path, even if it would allow Iran to develop a weapon in the next year.
Notably, the survey showed that a slim majority (56 percent) of Republicans would support a "new agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program," even if that accord was based on the original deal.
If Iran does manage to develop a nuclear weapon, respondents said overwhelmingly that they would primarily blame either Biden or former President Donald Trump. Responses fell along partisan lines, with 62 percent of Democrats blaming Trump and 61 percent of Republicans putting the responsibility on Biden's shoulders.
Connor Echols
Connor Echols is a reporter for Responsible Statecraft. He was previously an associate editor at the Nonzero Foundation, where he co-wrote a weekly foreign policy newsletter. Echols recently completed a fellowship with the Arabic Center for Study Abroad in Amman, Jordan, and he received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, where he studied journalism and Middle East and North African Studies.
On the eve of a new round of negotiations between the world's powers and Iran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, the vast majority of voters believe that the United States should use diplomacy--and not military force--to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, according to a recent poll from Data For Progress.
In a survey of 1,330 likely voters, 78 percent of respondents said Washington must use its best diplomatic tools to "put an immediate end to Iran's nuclear weapons program," while only 12 percent agreed with the statement that the United States "must go to war with Iran in order to slow down its nuclear weapons development." (It should be noted that despite the poll's wording, the U.S. intelligence community and the International Atomic Energy Agency have not at this time made an assessment that Iran is embarking on a nuclear weapons program.)
The poll shows a range of potentially strong messages for those who advocate a return to the Iran nuclear deal. It also indicates that, even after two years of President Joe Biden dragging his feet on a return to the accord, Americans have little appetite for alternative approaches to resolving the issue.
In a second framing of the question, 74 percent of likely voters polled said they supported a deal that would use international monitoring to stop Iran's nuclear program from progressing. On the other side, eight percent favored military action that would set the program back "by years," and five percent supported the current path, even if it would allow Iran to develop a weapon in the next year.
Notably, the survey showed that a slim majority (56 percent) of Republicans would support a "new agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program," even if that accord was based on the original deal.
If Iran does manage to develop a nuclear weapon, respondents said overwhelmingly that they would primarily blame either Biden or former President Donald Trump. Responses fell along partisan lines, with 62 percent of Democrats blaming Trump and 61 percent of Republicans putting the responsibility on Biden's shoulders.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.