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Two-thirds of Americans believe Iran deal serves national security: Poll

Saturday, 02 December 2017 7:51 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 02 December 2017 8:52 AM ]

Senior diplomats from Iran, the P5+1 group of world powers and the European Union pose for a group picture at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria, July 14, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

A new study shows that the majority of Americans believe that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, to which Washington is a signatory, serves their country’s national security interests.

According to the poll conducted by the Washington-based Brookings Institution and published on Friday, 70 percent of the respondents agree that the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is beneficial for US interests, while 26 percent disagree.

The JCPOA was reached between Iran and the P5+1 countries — namely the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany — in July 2015 and took effect in January 2016. Under the accord, Iran undertook to apply certain limits to its nuclear program in exchange for the termination of all nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran.

Eight reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, have so far confirmed Iran’s full commitment to its side of the bargain.

However, Washington, under President Donald Trump, has at various times attempted to either scrap the deal or open renegotiations to change its terms.

In October, Trump, who took office one year after the JCPOA had come into force, defied the IAEA reports and refused to certify that Iran was complying with the agreement under a domestic US law and warned that he might ultimately “terminate” it.

Those polled by the Brookings Institution were asked whether they approve or disapprove Trump’s refusal to certify Iran’s adherence to the terms of the JCPOA.

Some 35 percent approved Trump’s move, 37 percent disapproved and 27 percent said they did not know.

The US president has directed his administration “to work closely with Congress and our allies to address the deal’s many serious flaws.” The US Congress now has until mid-December to decide whether to re-impose the economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the accord.

This is while the other parties to the deal, along with the entire international community, have thrown their weight behind the accord, praising the Islamic Republic for its full commitment to its side of the bargain.

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