Americans see the Islamic State as a bigger threat now to the United States than Iran, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.
Overall, 68 percent say the Islamic State is a “very serious threat,” compared with just 39 percent who say so about Iran, 32 percent about North Korea, 25 percent about Russia and 18 percent about China.
Nearly 9 in 10 Americans see the Islamic State as at least a “moderately serious threat.”
The partisan divide that often drives public opinion around foreign policy issues is less prominent when Americans rate the threat from the Islamic State. Majorities across political and ideological lines say the group is a deeply serious threat to the US, including 68 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of independents.
Many analysts find this unreasonable. North Korea has nuclear weapons and Iran is believed desirous of having them. Both are loudly anti-American. But the Islamic State’s anger is focused mainly on Shias and it has no weaponry that can reach the United States.
However, the dramatic videos of beheadings and the constantly trumpeted concern about Islamic State volunteers being sent to the United States to carry out terrorist acts seems to have hit a nerve with Americans—much as the videos of masses of Iranians chanting “Death to America” fomented concerns about an Iranian threat in years past.
The party unity in perceptions of the Islamic State as a threat does not extend to Iran. At 53 percent, Republicans are far more apt to see Iran as a very serious threat than Democrats (29 percent) or independents (38 percent).
That partisan divide carries through to perceptions of the nuclear agreement in the works. If Iran were to violate the terms of an agreement, however, majorities in both parties say military action should be the next step.
The CNN/ORC poll finds 53 percent favor and 43 percent oppose the US and Iran making an agreement that would ease some economic sanctions in exchange for major restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program alongside greater international inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities. (A separate poll by Quinnipiac University released Monday found 58 percent of Americans supporting the outlined deal and 33 percent opposing it.)
The CNN/ORC poll found Democrats broadly back such a deal (67 percent), Republicans largely oppose it (60 percent). Support for the deal is strongest among liberals (69 percent) those under age 35 (63 percent) and those who attended college (60 percent).
The poll finds 61 percent say the US should take military action if Iran breaks any agreement. Across the board, majorities of Americans support military action in such a case: Republicans (67 percent), independents (60 percent) and Democrats (58 percent) all favor military action.
Overall, Americans are divided evenly on how the President is handling the US relationship with Iran, with 48 percent approving and 48 percent disapproving. Opinions of the president’s handling of Iran are divided by party, with 79 percent of Democrats approving while 77 percent of Republicans disapprove. But Obama’s handling of Iran earns him higher marks among Republicans (19 percent approve) than his overall handling of the presidency (11 percent). At the same time, Democrats are less apt to approve of Obama’s Iran policies (79 percent) than his overall handling of the presidency (88 percent).
The CNN/ORC poll was conducted by telephone April 16-19 among a random national sample of 1,018 adults.
