Iran nuclear agreement: Public opinion

Iran nuclear agreement
For more on the Iran nuclear deal, view the following articles:
•Overview
•Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
•Negotiations
•Timeline
•Legislation
•Congressional review
•U.S. withheld cash until hostages were released
•U.S.-Israeli relations
•Public opinion
•Federal policy on the Iran nuclear deal, 2017-2020
•Federal policy on Iran, 2017-2020
•2016 presidential candidates on the Iran nuclear deal

Federal Issues
Executive powers Barack Obama: Vetoed legislation • Executive clemency and presidential pardons
Foreign affairs Iran nuclear agreement: U.S. withheld cash until hostages were released • Congressional investigation of CENTCOM’s intelligence reports on the Islamic State • Iran nuclear agreement: An overview • Bowe Bergdahl exchange • ISIS insurgency in Iraq and Syria • Terrorist attack on U.S. mission in Benghazi, 2012
Economy The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal: An overview • The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
Natural resources Keystone XL Pipeline political timeline
Healthcare Obamacare overview • Obamacare lawsuits
Immigration President Obama's Immigration Accountability Executive Actions
Abortion Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood, 2015
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"Red: Seven 'nuclear weapons states' from the NPT (USA, Russia, UK, France, PRC, North Korea, India, Pakistan). Light orange: States suspected of having possession of, or suspected of being in the process of developing, nuclear weapons (Israel, Iran, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia). Pink: States which at one point had nuclear weapons and/or nuclear weapons research programs."

The E3/EU+3, which includes the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation and the European Union, reached a historic agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the development of its nuclear program on July 14, 2015. The agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), places limits Iran's nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief.

According to surveys conducted in September 2015, Americans generally have a less optimistic view of the deal than Iranians. Iranians are more likely to approve of the deal and believe that the deal will improve U.S.-Iranian relations than Americans. Twenty-one percent of Americans approve of the nuclear deal, and 49 percent disapprove. Sixty-eight percent of Iranians approve, and only 10 percent disapprove. In addition, 51 percent of Iranians believe the deal will improve U.S. - Iranian relations, while only 18 percent of Americans believe it will.

American views

According to a September 2015 Pew Research survey, 49 percent of Americans disapproved of the nuclear deal, while 21 percent approved. Additionally, the survey found that 42 percent of Americans had "no confidence at all" that Iranian leaders will adhere to their obligations outlined in the deal, while only two percent had "a great deal of confidence" that leaders will.

"From what you know [about the recent agreement on Iran’s nuclear program between Iran, the United States and other nations], do you approve or disapprove of this agreement?"
Poll	Approve	Disapprove	Don't know/ Refused	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Pew Research Center Sept. 3-7, 2015	21%	49%	30%	+/-3.6	1,004
Pew Research Center July 14-20, 2015	33%	45%	22%	+/-2.5	2,002

"If this agreement is implemented, do you think the relationship between the U.S. and Iran will improve, get worse or stay about the same?"
Poll	Improve	Get Worse	Stay about the same	Don't know/ Refused	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Pew Research Center Sept. 3-7, 2015	18%	30%	37%	16%	+/-3.6	1,004
Pew Research Center July 14-20, 2015	23%	28%	40%	9%	+/-2.5	2,002

"How much confidence do you have that Iran’s leaders will uphold their side of the agreement?"
Poll	A great deal of confidence	A fair amount of confidence	Not too much confidence	No confidence at all	Don't know/Refused	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Pew Research Center Sept. 3-7, 2015	2%	18%	28%	42%	9%	+/-3.6	1,004
Pew Research Center July 14-20, 2015	3%	22%	34%	37%	4%	+/-2.5	2,002

"How much confidence do you have in the U.S. and international agencies’ ability to monitor Iran’s compliance with the agreement?"
Poll	A great deal of confidence	A fair amount of confidence	Not too much confidence	No confidence at all	Don't know/Refused	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Pew Research Center Sept. 3-7, 2015	12%	30%	27%	24%	7%	+/-3.6	1,004
Pew Research Center July 14-20, 2015	12%	34%	32%	20%	3%	+/-2.5	2,002

Iranian views

When U.S. News reporter Teresa Welsh asked Georgetown University visiting assistant professor Ariane Tabatabai what Iranians thought of the nuclear deal, she said,

“

In Iran, the nuclear program has become very politicized. It's something that everyone has been following, it's something that everyone knows about to some extent. People have been paying attention to the nuclear issue not necessarily because they care about the technical aspects, it's mainly because they care about their own lives and every single aspect of their own lives has been affected by the nuclear issue. So people were really looking forward to this deal. The general public is very much for the deal. People are happy this is done. There is of course a faction that is opposed to the deal. They're a very small but very vocal minority. But ultimately I would say this is an interesting event where everyone – conservatives, reformists, moderates, people outside of the regime altogether – tends to agree that this is a good deal.

”

Steve Kroft, a "60 Minutes" correspondent, had a slightly different take on how the deal has been received in Iran. He said, "There has been much ferocious, negative comments about the deal in Iran as there have been in the United States. Kroft also "spoke about the tension between the more moderate President Rouhani and Iran's hard-liners," according to CBS News.

According to a May 2015 University of Tehran Center for Public Opinion Research (UTCPOR)/ IranPoll.com survey, "a substantial majority favors it [the nuclear deal] and only one in six oppose it. A quarter, though, are undecided or equivocal." In addition, "Approximately half of respondents say Iran should not agree to a deal unless the U.S. lifts all of its sanctions, while nearly as many say Iran should be ready to make a deal even if the U.S. retains some sanctions, provided all UN and EU sanctions are lifted."

A September 2015 survey resulted in similar findings. A majority of Iranians support the deal and believe that it will improve relations with the United States. The full results can be viewed below.

"With regards to the nuclear agreement reached in July between Iran and the United States, in your opinion, did Iranian leadership negotiate a good deal for your country?"
Poll	Yes	No	Don't know/ refused	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Gallup September 2015	68%	10%	22%	+/-3.9	1,001

"Do you think that the agreement between Iran and the United States will improve your economic situation?"
Poll	Yes	No	Don't know/ refused	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Gallup September 2015	66%	19%	15%	+/-3.9	1,001

"Do you think that the agreement will result in better realtions with the United States?"
Poll	Yes	No	Don't know/ refused	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Gallup September 2015	51%	26%	23%	+/-3.9	1,001

See also

• Iran nuclear agreement: An overview
• Iran nuclear agreement: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
• Iran nuclear agreement:Negotiations
• Iran nuclear agreement: Timeline
• Iran nuclear agreement: Legislation
• Iran nuclear agreement: Congressional review
• 2016 presidential candidates on the Iran nuclear deal
• Iran nuclear agreement: U.S. - Israeli relations
• Outline for nuclear agreement with Iran reached
• Iran nuclear agreement talks resume ahead of deadline
• 2016 presidential candidates on the Iran nuclear deal
• John Kerry
• Barack Obama
• P5+1 and E3+3

External links

• House letter to President Obama

• Detailed Timeline of Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran

• "Iran Nuclear Negotiations: Status of Talks and the Role of Congress"

• "PM Netanyahu's Speech in Congress"

• "An Open Letter to the Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran"

• "Parameters for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran's Nuclear Program"

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)