(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most people in Iran would favour adopting a series of measures to improve bilateral relations with the United States, according to a poll by worldpublicopinion.org and Search for Common Ground. At least 70 per cent of respondents would approve of increasing tourism and providing more access to each other’s media.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most people in Iran would favour adopting a series of measures to improve bilateral relations with the United States, according to a poll by worldpublicopinion.org and Search for Common Ground. At least 70 per cent of respondents would approve of increasing tourism and providing more access to each other’s media.
Iran became an Islamic Republic after the monarchy was abolished in 1979. The Ayatollah Khomeini commanded a group of Muslim clerics who controlled the country for the next decade. Just months into the new regime, militants took 52 hostages inside the American Embassy in Tehran, demanding the extradition of the exiled Shah, who had been in the United States for medical treatment. The crisis played out in the international press, and had a profound effect in the 1980 U.S. presidential race.
After being branded as part of an "axis of evil" by U.S. president George W. Bush in January 2002, Iran has contended that its nuclear program aims to produce energy, not weapons. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has imposed three rounds sanctions against Iran after it failed to stop uranium enrichment—a process needed both to make nuclear weapons and produce electricity.
In June 2005, former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Iran’s presidential election in a run-off over Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with 61.6 per cent of all cast ballots.
On Apr. 17, British prime minister Gordon Brown visited Bush in Washington. In a joint press conference, Bush declared that Iranian leaders have shown to be "untrustworthy," while Brown said he would push for tighter economic sanctions against Iran, saying, "I make no apology" for doing so, as long as Tehran defies demands to stop enriching uranium.
Polling Data
Percentage of respondents who favour the following steps to improve relations with the United States:
|
Have more Americans and Iranians visit as tourists |
71% |
|
Provide more access to each other’s journalists |
70% |
|
Greater trade |
64% |
|
Greater cultural, educational, and sporting exchanges |
63% |
|
Direct talks on issues of mutual concern |
57% |
Source: worldpublicopinion.org / Search for Common Ground
Methodology: Interviews with 710 Iranian adults, conducted from Jan. 13 to Feb. 9, 2008. Margin of error is 3.8 per cent.
