海角大神

Iran nuclear deal: Americans generally supportive but very wary

Now that an Iran nuclear deal has been worked out, the political selling job begins. A plurality of Americans support the agreement, but most are not confident that Iran can be prevented from producing nuclear weapons.

Now that a nuclear deal has been worked out between Iran and six world powers led by the United States, the political selling job begins 鈥� especially in the US, where Congress has a say on whether the agreement to lift economic sanctions in return for inspections gets implemented.

While it鈥檚 Congress that has the power to influence the outcome in the US, lobbying of the American public plays an important part as well.

President Obama, whose foreign policy legacy may hinge on an agreement designed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, began his public lobbying with a formal White House statement, then continued with a press conference in which he made sure that Iran was topic number one.

He continued that effort Saturday with his weekly radio/Internet address, taking on his critics point by point.

鈥淭oday, Iran has enough nuclear material to produce up to 10 nuclear weapons.聽With this deal, they鈥檒l have to ship 98 percent of that material out of the country 鈥� leaving them with a fraction of what it takes to make even one weapon,鈥� .聽鈥淲ith this deal, they鈥檒l have to repurpose two key nuclear facilities so they can鈥檛 produce materials that could be used for a nuclear weapon.聽So this deal actually pushes Iran further away from a bomb.鈥�

鈥淵ou might hear from critics that Iran could just ignore what鈥檚 required and do whatever they want. That they鈥檙e inevitably going to cheat,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲ell, that鈥檚 wrong, too.聽With this deal, we will have unprecedented, 24/7 monitoring of Iran鈥檚 key nuclear facilities.聽With this deal, international inspectors will have access to Iran鈥檚 entire nuclear supply chain.聽The verification process set up by this deal is comprehensive and it is intrusive 鈥� precisely so we can make sure Iran keeps its commitments.鈥�

Here and in other venues, Obama is pushing against considerable skepticism 鈥� and among many members of Congress (virtually all Republicans), outright opposition.

鈥淚nstead of making the world less dangerous, this 鈥榙eal鈥� will only embolden Iran 鈥� the world鈥檚 largest sponsor of terror 鈥� by helping stabilize and legitimize its regime as it spreads even more violence and instability in the region,鈥� House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. 鈥淚nstead of stopping the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, this deal is likely to fuel a nuclear arms race around the world.鈥�

So what do Americans think as the debate continues?

There鈥檚 been a shift in how Americans view Iran.

Between 2006 and 2012, Iran topped the list when people were asked to name the country's greatest enemy, according to Gallup.

鈥淟ast year, Iran tied with North Korea in聽second place, behind China,鈥� write Frank Newport and Julie Ray in a this week. 鈥淭his year, Iran's position on the greatest enemy list fell ever further, named as such by聽9 percent of the public, coming in behind Russia, North Korea, and China, and virtually tied with Iraq.鈥�

Still (again, according to Gallup),聽77 percent of Americans聽believe that the development of nuclear weapons by Iran is a critical threat to the vital interests of the US.聽

Regarding the just-concluded nuclear deal, a plurality of those surveyed (43-30 percent) support the deal, according to a new Still, a large number (26 percent) aren鈥檛 sure, and a large majority (59-23 percent) are not confident that the deal will prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

A new has similar results. By 80-15 percent, those surveyed do not think 鈥渢he United States can trust what Iran says on the issue of nuclear weapons.鈥�

Is the issue worth going to war over? Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry say that鈥檚 the only likely alternative to the new agreement. For most Americans, apparently, the answer to that question is 鈥測es.鈥�

鈥淚f Iran breaks the agreement and begins developing a nuclear weapon, majorities of nearly all political and demographic groups say they would approve of the US and its allies taking military action against Iran,鈥� reports YouGov. 鈥淥verall 64 percent say they would approve of using military force in this event, against only 18 percent who would disapprove.鈥�