Courtesy of Shibley Telhami
Critical Issues Poll of American public attitudes toward Iran's nuclear program, conducted May 2-5, 2025. The poll probed public preference for a negotiated agreement that would limit Iran's nuclear program to peaceful ends, with stringent monitoring, compared to undertaking military action in an attempt to destroy Iran's nuclear program.
We found that only 14% of Americans preferred military action attempting to destroy Iran's program, compared to 69% who preferred a negotiated agreement limiting Iran's program. Notably, large majorities of both Republicans, 64%, and Democrats, 78%, preferred a negotiated agreement.
We
also probed a question related to nuclear proliferation in the Middle
East, specific to Iran and Israel. Without providing any information on
which state may or may not already possess nuclear weapons, we sought to
find out public attitudes on which of four possible nuclear outcomes
would be least dangerous for stability in the Middle East: Both Iran and
Israel possessing nuclear weapons; neither possessing such weapons;
only Israel possessing nuclear weapons; only Iran possessing such
weapons.
The American public's preference was clear: 69% preferred that neither Israel nor Iran possess nuclear weapons, including 63% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats, followed by 10% who preferred that Israel alone possess such weapons, including 21% of Republicans and 5% of Democrats.