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Iran Sanctions Favored by Most Americans

Seven in 10 Americans would support international economic sanctions as a way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but there is considerable wariness about taking military action against Tehran, according to the latest polling numbers. Even with international efforts to persuade the Islamist regime to give up sensitive nuclear technology at a critical impasse, about 42 percent of Americans said they would support bombing Iran`s nuclear development sites, while a majority of 54 percent of Americans oppose such action at this time.

A large majority of the public says Iran is a threat to the United States, albeit not an immediate one. And a Fox News survey suggests the public views Iran`s official pronouncements on the nuclear research program with great skepticism: Eight in 10 voters believe the country plans to use uranium enrichment for military rather than for peaceful purposes. Surveys have found differing levels of support for a military response to Iran`s actions, based at least in part on the way the current situation was described in the poll questions.

Of course, decisions on Iran are bound to be influenced by the ongoing conflict in Iraq, but at least one poll suggests that many Americans see the resumption of Iran`s nuclear program as the more serious threat. Nearly half of the respondents to the aforementioned Fox News Network poll (47 percent) said Iran is more of a threat today than Iraq was before the U.S. invasion. An additional 19 percent saw the two situations as equivalent dangers, and a minority of 25 percent said Iran was less of a threat than Iraq.