86 percent of Britons oppose US military action against Iran

Islamic Republic News Agency:

An overwhelming majority of British voters are opposed to the US launching any military strikes against Iran, according to a yet to be released survey conducted by ICM pollsters on behalf the Vote4Peace campaign. READ MORE

The survey found that 86 percent of the British public oppose following President George W. Bush into a unilateral attack on Iran even if intelligence reports say it is developing nuclear weapons.

Only seven percent said they would support an Iraq-style attack without the authority of the United Nations. Some 35 percent said they would support an attack on Iran under no circumstances, while 51 per cent would demand Security Council approval.

According to details of the poll obtained by IRNA, 61 percent of Britons also believed that Prime Minister Tony Blair's foreign policy was too close to that of Bush's US administration. Women were found to be even more against US policy and an Iran attack.

The findings come as Britain's opposition parties have been trying to raise the Iraq war and concern about any future attack against countries like Iran and Syria up the election agenda in the countdown to polling day on May 5.

Vote4Peace launched a campaign to urge British voters to petition Blair against following Bush into any more Iraq-style wars in February as part of an initiative by the non-partisan Waging Peace, advocacy group, which is registered with theElectoral Commission.

It started off with a series of adverts in the UK press, entitled Next Stop Iran? No More Iraq's and warning that Blair was wrong in following Bush into a lethal, costly war in Iraq and that he "still won't rule out repeating the mistake in Iran, Syria, or elsewhere." "At a time when President Bush's Administration is threatening Iran and Syria, we urge you to give a commitment not to allow British troops to participate in any attack on these countries," the petition said in an open letter to Blair.

It also called on the British premier "to use all the means at your disposal to dissuade the US from any such attack and to develop an alternative course."

Yes, this is a report from the official news agency of the Islamic Republic.