(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The recent revelation of a U.S. intelligence report has had little effect on the views of adults in the United States on Iran, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 66 per cent of respondents believe Iran has not stopped its nuclear weapons program.

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 and March 2007, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions against Iran after it failed to stop uranium enrichment—a process needed both to make nuclear weapons and produce electricity.

In October, 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.

Earlier this month, a summary of the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) found with "high confidence" that Iran stopped an effort to develop nuclear arms in the fall of 2003. Ahmadinejad called this statement "a victory", adding, "The report said clearly that the Iranian people were on the right course. Today, Iran has turned to a nuclear country, and all world countries have accepted this fact."

On Dec. 4, Bush discussed the NIE, saying, "To me, the NIE provides an opportunity for us to rally the international community—continue to rally the community to pressure the Iranian regime to suspend its program. (...) The best diplomacy, effective diplomacy, is one of which all options are on the table."

Original Release from Rasmussen Reports

Polling Data

A U.S. intelligence report found that Iran stopped their nuclear weapons program in 2003. Do you believe that Iran has stopped their nuclear weapons program?

Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 likely American voters, conducted on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6, 2007. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.

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