The Russian-built nuclear-powered electricity-generating plant in Bushehr, Iran.
A
poll by the Pew Research Center on U.S. Politics & Policy and
another by
The Washington Post-ABC News find that Americans favor a nuclear deal with Iran. But most respondents don't think an agreement will necessarily keep Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
The Pew poll also found that 62 percent of Americans want Congress to have the final say on an agreement, with only 29 percent saying the president should. Here's Pew:
Ahead of a March 31 deadline for nuclear talks with Iran, more Americans approve (49%) than disapprove (40%) of the United States negotiating directly with Iran over its nuclear program. But the public remains skeptical of whether Iranian leaders are serious about addressing international concerns over their nuclear enrichment program. [...]
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 25-29 among 1,500 adults, finds that just 27% have heard a lot about the nuclear talks between the United States and Iran in Lausanne, Switzerland. Another 49% have heard a little about the negotiations, while 24% have heard nothing at all.
Of those who had heard at least something about the talks—three-fourths of the public—63 percent said Iran's leaders are not serious “about addressing international concerns about their country’s nuclear enrichment program.”
The Post-ABC News poll found 59 percent of respondents support and 37 percent oppose an agreement that would lift economic sanctions in exchange for limits on the nuclear program that Iran says is entirely peaceful, but that the United States and other major world powers view as part of a drive to build a nuclear weapon. At the same time, 59 percent of those polled aren't confident that an agreement will keep Iran from building a nuclear weapon:
Support outpaces opposition across nearly all demographic and political groups, with liberals (seven in 10) and Democrats (two-thirds) the most supportive. At least six in 10 independents and moderates also back the broad idea of a deal with Iran.
Republicans are about evenly divided on an Iran deal, with 47 percent in support and 43 percent opposed. The split contrasts with Republican lawmakers’ widespread backing of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech deriding the potential deal in early March before a joint meeting of lawmakers.
Tuesday was the deadline for coming up with a preliminary agreement after 20 months of negotiations. But NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander
tweeted that a "Senior US official says Iran talks could go into Wednesday, 'if it's useful.'"