Many people in the US like the idea of a preliminary deal that would limit Iran’s nuclear program, but very few people really believe that Tehran will follow through with the agreement.
An Associated Press-GfK poll found that just 3 percent said they were very confident that Iran would allow inspections of its nuclear facilities, remove plutonium from the nation and shut down close to half of its uranium-enriching centrifuges as the preliminary deal says would be required. Nearly 70 percent of respondents said they were not confident, while 25 percent said they were moderately confident.
The US, Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China are aiming to finalize a deal with Iran by June 30 that puts limits on Iranian programs that could be used to make nuclear arms. In exchange, economic sanctions on Iran would be lifted over time. Tehran denies any interest in such weapons, but is negotiating in hopes of relief from billions of dollars in economic sanctions.
The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the six world powers was to start yesterday in Vienna, Austria.
Although more than half of the US residents polled said they approve of making the deal, few — 16 percent — are actually paying close attention to the complex Iran negotiations that have angered Israel and unnerved Persian Gulf nations who are concerned about Tehran’s rising influence and behavior in the region.
The AP-GfK poll of 1,077 adults was conducted online from April 23 to April 27, using a sample drawn from GfK’s probability-based KnowledgePanel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
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