Iranian Opinion on the Nuclear Deal

We�ve heard what the talking heads in the United States think of the nuclear deal being brokered with Iran, but what do the Iranians think? ...

We�ve heard what the talking heads in the United States think of the nuclear deal being brokered with Iran, but what do the Iranians think? A report by Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, the University of Tehran's Center for Public Opinion Research and IranPoll.com shows that a majority of Iranians support the deal.

The Lausanne Understanding is the preliminary deal reached on April 2nd, the full text of which can be found at the U.S States Department�s website. 57% of Iranians are in support of the deal, and only 15% are in opposition to it.

This is helped by the fact that 94% of Iranians believe that developing a nuclear program is either very important (83%) or somewhat important (11%) to the country as a whole. 40% of respondents replied that the nuclear program was the country�s �most important achievement� in the recent past, with the next most popular answer, military power, only receiveing 12% of the answers.

One interesting point is that 73% of Iranians believe that the Iranian nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, an opinion reinforced by the fact that 69% of Iranians believe that nuclear weapons are contrary to the principles of Islam. Support for Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties (NPT), has also grown in the past years. Support for NPTs has grown from 68% in 2006 to 81% of Iranians in October.

Iranians also support a nuclear weapons free zone including �both Islamic countries and Israel� by a large margin, with 62% �very much� supporting and 18% �somewhat� supporting.

Optimism is growing in Iran with 55% of Iranians believing that within one year of a deal being reached, there will be a tangible improvement in the Iranian people�s standard of living. This optimism extends to the deal itself, with 49 % believing it is �somewhat likely� for a deal to be reached and 21% believing it is �very likely� that a deal will be reached.

Further Reading:

"Iran Nuclear Agreement Meets With Public Skepticism" by Pew

http://www.people-press.org/2015/07/21/iran-nuclear-agreement-meets-with-public-skepticism/

"Only 11% of Americans see Iran favorably" by Gallup

http://www.gallup.com/poll/181742/nuclear-talks-progress-iran-favorably.aspx?utm_source=iran&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=tiles

"Why don�t Americans like theIran nuclear deal?" by CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/28/opinions/miller/