As the Iranian nuclear talks edge toward the deadline and the participants are supposedly going to issue an empty statement of success without any success, a new Pew Study shows Americans are clear that they do not trust Iran’s intentions nor do they want any deal enacted without congressional approval.
As expected (and probably what the president’s supporters will brag about, most Americans approve of the fact the U.S. is negotiating with Iran, especially Democrats (62%) and independents (49% approve vs 40% disapprove). The majority of Republicans (56%) dissaprove.
But approval of talks is a very little part of the story.
According to a Pew research study by more than a two to one margin Americans think that Congress (62%) rather than Obama (29%) should have the final authority for approving any nuclear agreement between America and Iran. As you might expect, this result is driven by Republicans (83% say Congress) and Independents (67% say Congress) while the majority of Democrats (51% to 42%) say Obama should get the final word.
Likewise, most Americans (63%-27%) are skeptical of Iran’s intentions in the negotiations. Again the numbers are driven by ideology, with Republicans largely distrustful (80%), followed by independents (64%), but in this case a plurality of Democrats (48%-39%) don’t trust Iran’s intentions either.
Overall, the results are not surprising. Americans support talking bur they fear that Iran is not serious and don’t want to relay on President Obama’s ability to make a deal that protects America. In the end that’s why the vast majority of Americans want their representatives, Congress, to review any deal.
Cross-posted at The Lid
