(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Two-thirds of people in Iran approve of the country’s official policy regarding the use of nuclear technology, according to a poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org. 66 per cent of respondents want to have a full fuel cycle nuclear energy program, and only 20 per cent say the country should also develop nuclear weapons.

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.

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 October 2007, Bush announced a new set of unilateral sanctions against Iran, which include the designations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "proliferator of weapons of mass destruction" and of the elite Quds Force as a "supporter of terrorism." The resolution has significant economic implications for Iran.

On Apr. 8, during a ceremony to mark the "National Day of Nuclear Technology", Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had started installing 6,000 advanced centrifuges at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. The Iranian president declared: "I promise to give more good news."

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner reacted to the news saying that the international community "must reinforce sanctions" against Iran if the existence of the new centrifuges is proven.

Polling Data

As you may know, Iran’s position is that it should have a full fuel cycle nuclear energy program, but should not develop nuclear weapons. Do you...

Source: WorldPublicOpinion.org
Methodology: Interviews with 710 Iranian adults, conducted from Jan. 13 to Feb. 9, 2008. Margin of error is 3.8 per cent.

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