New Poll Reveals Voters' Attitudes On Iran—And What They Want Trump To Do

On "Forbes Newsroom," HarrisX Founder and CEO Dritan Nesho discussed a new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll which measured voters' attitude on Iran.

Transcript

00:00And I do want to take our eyes off of domestic issues for a moment and look abroad. I want to

00:06look at the Middle East because it's important to note, first of all, that this poll was taken

00:10before Israel struck some of Iran's nuclear and military sites last week. And we are continuing

00:15to see escalation in that conflict there. But the timing of the attack was important. And some of

00:21the questions go on about that because it comes as the United States has held multiple rounds of

00:26talks with Iran regarding a potential nuclear deal. A sixth one was scheduled for this past

00:31weekend, but that was ultimately canceled after Israel struck Iran. But what do people think about

00:37the United States and Iran talking, a potential nuclear deal? What does that really look like?

00:42A great question. I mean, as you mentioned, this poll wasn't filled before Israel struck Iran.

00:49And while the majority of the public, 60 percent, supported President Trump engaging Iran

00:56directly for negotiations over their nuclear weapons, frankly, 85 percent believe that Iran should not be

01:09allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. And they want, 74 percent said that giving up their nuclear enrichment

01:18capabilities should be a precondition for any deal. So the public is actually quite hawkish when it comes

01:26to Iran policy, because for many years they viewed Iran as the source of instability in the Middle East.

01:34And for good reason, right? I mean, this has played out over many, many years since the first Trump administration

01:40and all the way up until today. So when we ask some more difficult questions like, would you support or oppose taking out

01:48Iran's nuclear weapons in a military operation, 54 percent said support and 46 percent said opposed,

01:56without naming who it is, right? So they could have considered this to be the United States.

02:02And then we asked a further question and said, if no acceptable deal with Iran is reached over its nuclear

02:09capability and nuclear weapons, should the administration support or oppose an Israeli effort

02:14to take out Iran's nuclear weapons program? And here, 60 percent said support. That includes 54 percent of

02:23independence, 78 percent of Republicans and even 47 percent of Democrats. So as this war is playing

02:31out, the country is actually siding with Israel and supporting what Israel is doing in terms of removing

02:38Iran's nuclear capabilities and some other military capabilities, because they view Iran as the main

02:46culprit of instability, death in the Middle East today.