PAAIA POLL: Iranian Americans and American public at large support efforts to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) today released the findings of a national public opinion survey examining the attitudes of both Iranian Americans and the American public at large toward a number of issues related to the nuclear negotiations with Iran and U.S.-Iranian relations. The results show that both Iranian Americans and American voters are supportive of a nuclear agreement with Iran.
Nearly two-thirds of Iranian Americans (64%) approve of the P5+1 framework agreement with Iran designed to place limits on Iran’s nuclear program, with eight in ten saying that President Obama has been effective in handling negotiations with Iran. Overall U.S. opinion also leans in support of a nuclear agreement with Iran by a two-to-one margin.
Nevertheless, an almost equal number of Iranian Americans (49%) and American voters (52%) believe that an agreement should be subject to congressional approval and oversight.
More than two-thirds of Iranian American respondents (68%) say the economic sanctions imposed on Iran have caused significant hardship for their family and friends in Iran. In this context, seven in ten respondents are supportive of the exemptions the U.S. government has made for remittances to family, supplies of food and medicine and personal communications tools, and favor expanding exemptions. Three-quarters favor facilitating the transfer of remittances through a direct banking link between the U.S. and Iran.
“What we find is an Iranian American community that has maintained strong ties to friends and family in Iran and their opinions are reflective of their concern for the Iranian people,” said Leila Austin, PhD, Executive Director of PAAIA. “While there is general support for efforts to resolve the nuclear impasse with Iran peacefully, Iranian Americans are hopeful that an agreement would open vital opportunities for economic and political reform inside Iran while the larger American public is more cautious and expresses a lack of knowledge on issues involving U.S.-Iran relations.”
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The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian, independent organization that represents the interests of the Iranian American community before U.S. policymakers, opinion-makers, and the American public at large.
