May 22, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A majority of adults in the United States believe their federal administration should not wage war against Iran, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 63 per cent of respondents would oppose the U.S. government if it decides to take military action in Iran.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A majority of adults in the United States believe their federal administration should not wage war against Iran, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 63 per cent of respondents would oppose the U.S. government if it decides to take military action in Iran.

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. 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.

In December 2006, the United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously voted to impose sanctions against Iran after it failed to stop uranium enrichment. Ahmadinejad claimed the sanctions were illegitimate, and has recently announced his country is successfully enriching uranium—a process needed both to make nuclear weapons and produce electricity—in an "industrial scale."

Earlier this month, inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that Iran has found a solution to technological problems and can now enrich uranium on a larger scale than before. IAEA director general Mohammed El-Baradei declared: "From now on, it is simply a question of perfecting that knowledge. (...) People will not like to hear it, but that's a fact." El Baradei called for the U.S. to approach Iran in a diplomatic way to persuade the country against continuing with its nuclear operations.

Polling Data

If the U.S. government decides to take military action in Iran, would you favour or oppose it?

	May 2007	Jan. 2007
Favour	33%	26%
Oppose	63%	68%
Unsure	4%	6%

Source: Opinion Research Corporation / CNN
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,028 American adults, conducted from May 4 to May 6, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.