Poll shows shift as US public opinion now disapproves of Iran deal

43% of Americans disapprove of interim nuclear agreement; survey also finds accord did not reduce American public's skepticism about Iran's leaders, 62% think Iranian leaders were "not serious" about international concerns.

By HERB KEINON
Obama and Rouhani 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Obama and Rouhani 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The more the American public learns about the Iran nuclear agreement reached in Geneva last month, the less it seems to like it, according to a Pew Research/USA Today Poll conducted this week.
The poll found that 43 percent of Americans disapprove of the agreement, while 32% approve and 25% don't know.
These results were sharply different from a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted just days after the agreement which found that Americans backed the deal by a 2-to-1 margin.
The Pew poll found large disparities between Democrats and Republicans on this issue, with 50% of Democrats approving, as opposed to only 14% of Republicans.
The survey also found that the accord has not reduced skepticism among the American public about Iran's leaders. Among those who have heard about the interim agreement, 62% said that Iran's leaders are "not serious" about addressing international concerns over its nuclear program, while only 29% said they were serious.
The poll was conducted between December 3-8 among 2,001 respondents, with a 2.6% margin of error.
A Channel 2 poll conducted in late November found that most Israelis – 60% – said that the agreement endangered Israel, while 25% said it did not. The poll also showed that a majority of Israelis backed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s recent criticism of the Obama administration’s Iranian policy, with 58% saying the criticism was justified, and 28% saying it was not.