A new study by Pew found that more Americans disapprove of the Iran nuclear deal than approve of it. According to the study, the "widespread skepticism" stems from a lack of confidence in both Iran's willingness to uphold the deal and the U.S. and its allies' ability to monitor the regime.
Pew's new poll found that of the 79% of Americans who are aware of the deal, 48 percent disapprove, 38% approve, and 14% had no opinion. Pew also found that Americans don't only not trust Iran—the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism—they don't have a lot of confidence in the U.S. and its international partners either:
There is widespread skepticism about aspects of the agreement, particularly the Iranian leadership’s commitment to the terms of the deal: Most of those familiar with the agreement say they have not too much (35%) or no confidence at all (38%) that Iran’s leaders will uphold their side of the agreement. And while there is greater confidence in the U.S. and international agencies’ ability to monitor Iran’s compliance, 54% are not too (33%) or not at all (21%) confident, while a smaller share (45%) express at least a fair amount of confidence in their ability.
As for how the deal will impact U.S.-Iranian relations, most (42%) said that the deal would result in little change, while 28% thought it would only worsen relations. Only 25% believed it would actually improve the relationship between the two countries.
Pew also found a predictably dramatic partisan divide on the issue, with 58% of Democrats supporting it and a full three-quarters of Republicans opposing:
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted July 14-20 among 2,002 adults, including 1,672 who have heard about the agreement, finds deep partisan divides. Among those who are familiar with the agreement, three-quarters of Republicans (75%) disapprove of it, while just 14% approve. Opposition is particularly pronounced among conservative Republicans, with 82% disapproving of the agreement. Among moderate and liberal Republicans a smaller majority (58%) disapproves.
Democratic support for the agreement outweighs opposition by more than two-to-one (59% approve, 25% disapprove). And liberal Democrats are particularly supportive: 74% approve of the deal. Conservative and moderate Democrats who are familiar with the agreement support it by a considerably narrower margin (48% approve, 33% disapprove).
Read full report here.
