Four polls released this week show widespread dissatisfaction with President Obama's handling of Iran and deep skepticism that his diplomatic outreach will succeed in dissuading Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
The polls, conducted by the Washington Post/ABC News, FoxNews, the Associated Press/GfK, and the Israel Project, a pro-Israel nonprofit group, found an average approval of Obama’s handling of Iran of 36.5 percent and an average disapproval of 56 percent.
The polls also show a significant intensity gap, with the percentage of those who strongly disapprove of Obama’s handling of Iran outnumbering those who strongly approve by double digits.
Approve vs. Disapprove of Obama on Iran
Strongly Approve vs. Strongly Disapprove of Obama on Iran
The Israel Project survey, conducted by Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, polled other aspects of the Iran issue. It found, by 68 to 21 percent, that Americans believe the most important goal of U.S.-Iran relations should be "to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if it requires military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities."
Despite 55 percent of respondents saying they favor the recently-signed interim agreement with Iran, 66 percent said it is unlikely Iran will "live up to and abide" by the agreement.
By a 68-26 margin, respondents said they favor the Obama administration releasing the text of the interim agreement, which the administration refuses to do.
Seventy-eight percent said they favor the bipartisan Menendez-Kirk sanctions bill currently under consideration in the Senate. The Obama administration accuses supporters of the bill of leading a "march to war" with Iran.