resuming diplomatic relations and reopening the U.S. embassy that has been shuttered for more than 30 years.
The poll was taken last August 27 through September 10 by WorldPublicOpinion.org, an American firm that had Farsi-speaking interviewers telephone into Iranian homes.
Iran is often described in the United States as the most pro-American country in the Middle East, based largely on the fact that Iranians came into the streets after the September 11, 2001, attacks to burn candles in sympathy with the Americans. But the numbers that turned out were at best in the low thousands and may not have exceeded several hundred.
The WPO poll found that even those Iranians who voted for Mir-Hossain Musavi in the June elections largely see the United States as hostile to Iran and Islam.
On the most basic question of whether the respondent holds a favorable or unfavorable view of the “current” U.S. government, more than three-quarters said they held unfavorable views with even 61 percent of those who said they voted for Musavi holding unfavorable views. (See Chart A.)
The dislike for the United States was even more visible when Iranians were asked if the United States “treats our government fairly” or “abuses its greater power to make our government do what the U.S. wants.” Only 7 percent of the respondents said Iran was treated fairly by the United States while 85 percent said Iran was abused by the Americans. (See Chart B.)
The poll then asked questions about a number of specific American policies.
One question asked if it was an American goal “to maintain control over the oil resources of the Middle East,” a point the Islamic Republic harps on even though not a single American oil company won a contract in Iraq during an auction several weeks ago. A total of 78 percent of the respondents said they believed control of oil to be U.S. policy. Most surprisingly, an even larger proportion of Musavi voters, 89 percent, believed that to be American policy.
Asked if it was American policy “to impose U.S. culture on Muslim society,” 75 percent of all respondents as well as 75 percent of Musavi voters agreed that was U.S. policy.
Asked if it was U.S. policy to “weaken and divide the Islamic world,” 81 percent of all respondents and 68 percent of Musavi voters said that was so.
For decades, U.S. presidents have said the United States seeks the creation of an independent and economically viable Palestinian state. But 55 percent of Iranian respondents and 50 percent of Musavi supporters said that was not a U.S. goal. Only 25 percent of the total respondents and 35 percent of the Musavi supporters thought that was U.S. policy. The Islamic Republic says the United States wants Israel to rule over Palestine forever.
The poll asked if the United States really promoted democracy in the Muslim world as it claims.(See Chart C.) Only 16 percent believed the United States really advocated democracy. Some 19 percent said the Americans actually oppose democracy in Muslim countries, while 51 percent said America wants democracy only if the resulting government cooperates with the United States. Some might disagree with the question because most Americans generally feel that true democracies will always work with the United States even when there are policy disputes, citing decades in which India opposed both the United States and the Soviet Union on the Cold War but never acted like the United States was the epitome of evil.
Another question sought to measure whether President Obama’s campaign to show the United States as a cooperative state rather than a state with a unilateralist policy has made an impression in Iran. It has not. A mere 16 percent of respondents and only 35 percent of Musavi supporters said they had any confidence that Obama would “do the right thing regarding world affairs.” (See Chart D.)
Even among those who had confidence, there was little enthusiasm. Only 2 percent of the general public and 6 percent of the Musavi supporters said they had “a lot” of confidence in Obama. The others just had “some” confidence.
There was a difference, however, between Musavi supporters and the others on whether Obama respects Islam. Overall, Iranians by 59 percent to 25 percent said Obama does not respect Islam. Musavi supporters, by a margin of 47 percent to 37 percent, said Obama does respect Islam.
But despite all those negative views of he United States, almost two-thirds of Iranians would like to have ordinary and routine relations with the United States. (See Chart E.) Sixty percent supported “full, unconditional negotiations between the governments of Iran and the U.S.” while a slightly larger 63 percent majority backed restoration of diplomatic relations. The Islamic Republic has opposed both.