Despite Obama’s efforts to gain support for the nuclear deal with Iran, opposition among Americans is growing.
Support for the nuclear deal signed with the Islamic Republic, which is being championed by US President Barack Obama, is continuously losing support among the American public.
The latest poll published by the Pew Research Center shows that public support for the deal has gone down to 21 percent at the beginning of September, a sharp drop from the 33 percent who supported the deal in July.
This is despite Obama’s vigorous efforts to market the accord, which would lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for a possible stalemate in their nuclear development program in the coming decade.
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See our Privacy PolicyOpposition for the deal has grown as well, with 49 percent disapproving of the agreement, marking an increase from the 45 percent that opposed it in July.
The number of people expressing no opinion at all has also risen – from 22 percent in July to 30 percent.
US President Barack Obama. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
While the partisan divide over the nuclear agreement remains substantial, support for the deal has slipped across the board since July, Pew’s survey shows.
The poll also reveals that the contentious debate over the agreement has not resonated widely with the public. Those saying they “have heard either a lot or a little about the agreement” has declined from 79 percent in July to 69 percent in the new survey. The share saying they have heard “nothing at all” about it has increased nine percentage points, from 21 to 30 percent.
When opinion about the Iran nuclear agreement is based only on those who have heard a lot or a little about the agreement, opposition to the agreement exceeds support by more than a two-to-one margin, 57 percent to 27 percent.
No Confidence in Iranian Leadership
The public continues to express little confidence that Iran’s leaders, who have repeatedly assailed the US verbally since the signing of the accord, will live up to their side of the nuclear agreement.
Just two percent have “a great deal of confidence” that Iran’s leaders will abide by the agreement, while another 18 percent say they have “a fair amount of confidence.” About seven-in-ten, 70 percent in total, say they are “not too confident” (28 percent) or “not confident at all” (42 percent) in Iran’s leaders.
These views have not changed much since July, although the share expressing no confidence at all in Iran’s leaders to abide by the agreement has risen slightly, from 37 to 42 percent.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel