WarSclerotic

Americans Are Divided Over Deal Limiting Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions, Poll Shows.

Huffington Post

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry makes a press release annoucing the agreement reached on Iran’s nuclear program on Nov. 24, in Geneva, Switzerland. The agreement commits Iran to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for limited and gradual sanctions relief. (Murat Unlu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) | Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Americans are divided over the deal between the United States and Iran to limit Iran’s nuclear program, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll. But the poll also finds many are uncertain about the deal’s impact on U.S. allies and about Iran’s intentions of following through on its promises.

According to the new poll, Americans are evenly divided over the temporary deal, which places limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the U.S. easing some sanctions. Thirty-six percent said they support the deal with Iran, and 35 percent said they oppose the deal. Another 17 percent said they neither support nor oppose the deal, and 12 percent said they weren’t sure.

An Ipsos/Reuters poll released Monday found more favorable opinions of the deal, with 44 percent saying they approved and 22 percent saying they disapproved.

Such differences in poll results are common in cases where Americans aren’t paying close attention to a news story, when question wording and context can be key to poll respondents’ understanding of an issue.

In this case, the HuffPost/YouGov poll found that only 19 percent of respondents said they have been following the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program very closely. Another 42 percent said they had been following somewhat closely, while a combined 39 percent said either that they were not following closely (25 percent) or not following at all (14 percent). That makes poll responses on the issue more likely to be reactions to the deal as it is described, rather than reflections of preexisting opinions.

Not surprisingly, given that respondents to the new HuffPost/YouGov poll were divided on the deal as a whole, they also split over whether the proposal be good (31 percent) or bad (33 percent) for the United States. A combined 36 percent said either that the deal was neither good nor bad, (18 percent) or that they weren’t sure (18 percent).

But more feared that the deal might be a poor one for U.S. allies. By a 41-percent-to-17-percent margin, more said that the deal would be a bad one, rather than a good one, for Israel. Generally speaking, respondents were more likely to say that the deal would be bad for U.S. allies in the region than they were to say that the deal would be good, by a 34-percent-to-22-percent margin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the American deal with Iran, calling it a “historic mistake” that makes the world a “more dangerous place.”

Respondents to the poll were also skeptical that the deal would stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Only 11 percent said that the interim deal would ultimately lead to an agreement that would stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, while another 28 percent said that it would delay but not prevent it. Thirty-three percent said it would do neither. Another 28 percent said they weren’t sure.

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