Poll: majority in US oppose military strikes on Iran

A large majority of Americans oppose military action against Iran to prevent it from gaining nuclear weapons, according to CNN.

The news network today released the results of a new poll (PDF) showing that 60 percent of respondents said they opposed military action, 17 percent were in favor and 22 percent said nothing should be done at all.

For the survey, 1,026 American adults were questioned by telephone.

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Reuters reported today that Iran had announced technological advances, such as centrifuges capable of faster enrichment of uranium, a development that the news agency said could hasten the Islamic Republic’s confrontation with Western powers.

The United Nations and Western government say Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

A series of terrorist attacks and an apparent assassination of a nuclear scientist in Iran this year have widely been seen as tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Israel, which would be an obvious target of Iranian bombs.

The CNN poll showed a slight edge among men in the willingness to use force, with 21 percent of men willing to use force but only 14 percent of women.

However, a broad consensus exists that now is not the time for force, according to CNN.

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"This is one issue on which Republicans and Democrats agree," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland was quoted as saying. "Republicans are a little more likely than Democrats to prefer military action, but a majority of Republicans, independents and Democrats say they favor economic and diplomatic efforts over a military option."