Americans Back Iran Deal: Poll

Local Editor

Americans back a newly brokered nuclear deal with Iran by a 2-to-1 margin and are very wary of the United States resorting to military action against Tehran even if the historic diplomatic effort falls through, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.

The findings were rare good news in the polls for President Barack Obama, whose approval ratings have dropped in recent weeks because of the botched rollout of his signature healthcare reform law.

According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, 44% of Americans support the interim deal reached between Iran and six world powers in Geneva last weekend, and 22% oppose it.
The survey also underscored a strong desire to avoid new US military entanglements after long, costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even if the Iran deal fails, 49% want the United States to then increase sanctions and 31 % think it should launch further diplomacy. But only 20 % want US military force to be used against Iran.
The survey's results suggest that a US public weary of war could help bolster Obama's push to keep Congress from approving new sanctions that would complicate the next round of negotiations for a final agreement with Iran.
"This absolutely speaks to war fatigue, where the American appetite for intervention - anywhere - is extremely low," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said. "It could provide some support with Congress for the arguments being made by the administration."

65% of those polled agreed that the United States "should not become involved in any military action in the Middle East unless America is directly threatened." Only 21 % disagreed with the statement.
Fifty percent supported the notion that the United States "should use its military power to defend "Israel" against threats to its security, no matter where they come from." Thirty-one percent disagreed.
A separate Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll on Tuesday showed Obama's approval rating languishing at 38%, with 56% disapproving of the way he is handling his job. He spent the past three days on a swing through Western states trying to recover lost ground over his flawed healthcare rollout.

The final outcome of Obama's Iran engagement strategy remains uncertain, but success would mean a big legacy-shaping achievement that might help to polish what is widely perceived to be a less than stellar foreign policy record.

The precision of Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll - which was conducted from Sunday through Tuesday with 591 respondents - has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team