U.S. Poll: Iranians Strongly Back IRGC, Missile Power

Date: 03 April 2021 - 22:31

News ID: ۸۸۷۷۵

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- As U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration weighs including restrictions on Iran’s missile program, Iranians have voiced overwhelming opposition toward any new talks regarding the country’s weapons, according to a new American poll.
The survey was conducted jointly over the past month by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Toronto-based IranPoll, Newsweek magazine reported. Results were released this week, it said.
In Iran, a slim majority (51%) approve of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official name for the nuclear deal signed by Iran, the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom in 2015. In the U.S., a majority (57%) also supported the JCPOA, but respondents were sharply partisan, with 74% of Democrats, 56% of Independents and just 39% of Republicans expressing approval of the deal, it said.
At the time of the signing, more than three-quarters of Iranians allegedly backed the accord, but numbers steadily declined with time, especially after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and implemented severe sanctions, which had been eliminated under the agreement, the magazine said.
But the fate of the deal remains uncertain despite Biden’s campaign promise to reenter it.
The new administration entered office demanding Tehran first reintroduce nuclear enrichment caps suspended by the Islamic Republic in response to Washington’s sanctions and European hesitance to trade with Iran as a result of the U.S. restrictions. In a recent shift, the White House now appears prepared
to pursue a more flexible approach, Newsweek claimed.
"We are ready to pursue a joint return to compliance with the JCPOA,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday.
A step-by-step process in which Tehran and Washington both gradually fulfill respective nuclear deal commitments is mostly unpopular in Iran, however, with 51% disapproving. Two-thirds oppose Iran entering after the International Atomic Energy Agency verified Iran’s compliance at initial cap levels.
By far the most popular option is the U.S. first reentering the agreement it abandoned nearly three years ago, an approach winning 88% approval.
Also unpopular among Iranians was the prospect of new negotiations that would put Iran’s missile program, the largest and most advanced in the Middle East, on the table. Echoing previous remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week the goal was "to build a longer and stronger agreement, but also to engage on some of the other issues where Iran’s actions and conduct are particularly problematic: destabilization of countries in the region, ballistic missile program, et cetera.”
The joint Chicago Council on Global Affairs and IranPoll survey found that 62% believed "the Iranian government should be unwilling to negotiate a new separate agreement about its missile program.”
Iran has consistently stressed that the country’s missiles were intended only for self-defense, and that such weapons would never be subject to external limitations. Earlier this month, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps displayed yet another underground "missile city,” and Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said the armed forces would continue striving for "high goals” in missile development and other defensive weapons research.”
Iran has utilized its missile prowess in combat on several occasions. In recent years, the IRGC has targeted Daesh terrorists in Syria and other terrorist groups in neighboring Iraq. Iranian missiles also rained down on U.S. troops positioned at a base in Iraq an initial response to the U.S. assassination of top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani early last year.
A majority of 85% of Iranians believe the IRGC’s activities across the Middle East have made their nation more secure, with most agreeing the force has made Iran "a lot more secure”, Newsweek wrote.
Iran is a country surrounded by U.S. military bases amid the profound mistrust that exists between Tehran and Washington.
Newsweek explained that mutual suspicion between both countries has existed throughout their decades-long rivalry. Its origins, it said, can be traced to a CIA-backed 1953 coup that deposed a democratically elected prime minister and reinstalled the U.S.-friendly shah, and the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the absolute monarch and brought in the current establishment.
According to the magazine, the Trump administration’s unilateral withdrawal refueled Iranian anger toward the U.S. It said just 37% in Iran believe that the U.S. would live up to its nuclear deal commitments even if did reenter.
With faith in the U.S. and Europe waning, Iranians have increasingly looked toward the East, striking agreements with China and Russia, the publication said, noting that Chinese officials signed a 25-year strategic cooperation over the past weekend.
A majority (53%) of Iranians said China today is "more respected than ten years ago,” as opposed to 20% who felt it was less respected and 21% who saw no change. Only 12% of Iranians felt the U.S. was more respected, compared to 64% who said it was less respected and 21% who believed its image had not significantly shifted.
A solid 83% thought that relations with China were "important” to Iran.