Most Americans don’t trust that Iran will abide by an eventual agreement to curtail its nuclear program and not develop an atomic weapon, according to an NBC News poll released on Thursday.
More than half the respondents in the poll said that Iran’s nuclear program represents a major threat to the United States.
The poll found that 68 percent of respondents believed that Iran was either not too likely or not at all likely to abide by a nuclear agreement, compared with 25 percent who said Iran was very likely or somewhat likely.
The poll, conducted by NBC News and SurveyMonkey, was conducted Monday through Wednesday, just days after diplomats working around the clock agreed on a framework for an eventual deal.
Six world powers negotiated with Iran on the framework. The details must still be worked out before a June 30 deadline.
The two sides have offered differing interpretations of the framework itself. But it generally calls for restrictions on the nuclear program and for international inspections, in exchange for relief on economic sanctions against Iran.
In the poll, 68 percent of respondents said it was either not too likely or not at all likely that Iran would follow the rules of a nuclear agreement, compared with 25 percent who said it was either very likely or somewhat likely.
Slightly more than half, 53 percent, said the Iranian nuclear program represents a major threat to the United States. That compared with 37 percent who said it was a minor threat, and 8 percent who said it was not a threat.
Republicans in Congress have been sharply critical of the deal. But the poll found that Americans, by a margin of 54 to 42 percent, trust President Barack Obama more than the Republicans to handle negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program.
The poll also asked Americans about the president, Congress and the state of the country:
- By roughly 2-to-1, respondents said that the country was moving in the wrong direction.
- 51 percent of Americans approve of how Obama is handling his job, compared with 48 percent who disapprove.
- By a margin of 53 to 46 percent, Americans approve of how Obama is handling the economy.
- By 61-37, respondents disapprove of the job that Democrats in Congress are doing. They disapprove of Republicans’ job handling by 75 to 23.
The NBC News-SurveyMonkey Poll was conducted among a national sample of 2,052 adults aged 18 and over. Respondents for this non-probability survey were selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in the SurveyMonkey Audience panel.
Results have an error estimate of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points.
A full description of our methodology can be found here.
The survey was produced by the Analytics Unit of NBC News in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania's Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies with data collection and tabulation conducted by SurveyMonkey.
Analysis was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies.
IN-DEPTH
- Nuke Deal No Sure Thing, Iran's Supreme Leader Says
- Energy Secretary on Iran Framework
- Obama: Iran 'Understands That They Cannot Fight Us'
