Poll: 76 Percent of Americans Favor Direct Talks With Iran

A Strong Majority of Americans Has Long Favored Talks

As President Obama backs away from last week’s diplomatic overtures from Iran, the latest CNN/ORC International Poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans support direct talks with Iran.

The poll showed 76 percent support for diplomacy with 21 percent opposed, and strong majorities of both parties (87 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Republicans) on the side of negotiations.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland says the results aren’t nearly the shift you’d figure, noting that a 2009 version of the poll similarly showed overwhelming pro-diplomacy sentiment.

The polling wasn’t taken nearly so seriously in 2009, however, and direct talks never happened. After the American public forced the Obama Administration away from a war with Syria in the past month, however, there seems to be some recognition that the American public can change foreign policy, and in this case what they want is talks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.