A major new national poll has found that most Americans back the recent peace agreement brokered between the United States and Iran, even as broader presidential approval numbers remain underwater.
The survey, conducted by Quantus Insights, asked respondents directly about the memorandum of understanding reached after weeks of intense negotiations earlier this month. The deal calls for an end to hostilities between the two nations, the reopening of shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, and 60 days of formal talks on Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief.
According to a report on the findings, 56 percent of Americans approved of the agreement overall. Of those, 43 percent said they strongly approved and 13 percent somewhat approved. Only 13 percent expressed any disapproval, while 16 percent were neutral and 15 percent said they were unsure.
Support climbed even higher when respondents were asked about a specific potential condition of any final deal. When asked whether the U.S. should require Iran to give up, remove, or destroy its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, 74 percent approved. That included 63 percent who strongly approved and 11 percent who somewhat approved. Just seven percent disapproved, and 12 percent took a neutral position.
Those are striking numbers by any measure. Getting nearly three-quarters of Americans to agree on anything in today’s political climate is genuinely rare.
Negotiations to finalize the terms of the agreement are currently ongoing in Switzerland, where diplomats from both sides are working through the details.
The same survey also measured overall presidential job approval, and those numbers told a different story. Just 37 percent of respondents approved of the president’s job performance overall, with six percent somewhat approving. On the disapproval side, 56 percent expressed some level of dissatisfaction, with 54 percent of that group choosing strong disapproval.
The gap between approval of the Iran deal specifically and overall presidential approval suggests that Americans are willing to credit the administration for this particular diplomatic effort, even when they have broader reservations about the job being done in Washington.