Page 16 - IRANRptSep22

2.8 Polls & Sociology
Poll shows US voters have little appetite for military action to stop Iran getting nuclear weapon
Tens of thousands take part in pro-regime counter-protests in Iran
The great majority of voters in the US believe that Washington should use diplomacy rather than military force to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, according to the results of a recent poll conducted by Data For Progress and reported by Responsible Statecraft.
The survey outcomes were released just prior to the start of a new round of Vienna negotiations between Iran and world powers on finding a path to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA, which would curb the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on Tehran.
Of 1,330 polled likely voters, 78% of respondents said the US must use its best diplomatic tools to “put an immediate end to Iran’s nuclear weapons program”. Just 12% agreed with the statement that the US “must go to war with Iran in order to slow down its nuclear weapons development”. The wording was used despite the fact that the US intelligence community and the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have not made an assessment that Iran has started a nuclear weapons programme, and Tehran denies it has any such intention.
In another framing of the question put to respondents, 74% polled said they would back a deal that would deploy international monitoring to stop Iran’s nuclear programme from progressing. Eight percent favoured military action to set the programme back “by years”. Five percent supported the current approach, even if it would enable Iran to develop a nuclear weapon in the next year.
The survey also showed that 56% of Republicans would back a “new agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program” even if that accord was based on the original deal struck seven years ago.
Pro-regime counter-protests involving tens of thousands of supporters of Iran’s clerical establishment, including 50,000 Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia members, have taken place in Iran, state media reported. The May 20 rallies were apparently partly organised as a response to various protests in Iran against rising food prices that turned political in some places, with protesters calling for the regime to fall.
Iranian authorities insist the unrest over rising food prices has been fomented by foreign enemies. State television broadcast footage of pro-government marchers chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in the southwestern cities of Yasuj and Shahr-e Kord, the scenes of recent food price protests.
The government has acknowledged the food inflation protests but it has described them as modest gatherings. State media, meanwhile, have reported the arrests of "dozens of rioters and provocateurs".
Authorities have also arrested a number of labour union and rights activists. They have been accused of contacts with foreigners who were allegedly in Iran to stir up unrest.
Teachers across the country and Tehran bus drivers are among other groups that have mounted substantial street protests in recent weeks. The authorities have introduced targeted internet cut-offs to hinder the communications of protest organisers appealing for support. Analysts say there is some anxiety among officials that various strikes and protests could merge into a popular movement, hence the stepping up of the crackdown.
16 IRAN Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com