70% of Americans Believe Iran Is Building a Nuclear Weapon

Harris Poll, The Wall Street Journal:

A large majority of Americans believe Iran is using its uranium research program to build a nuclear weapon, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll.

About 85% of Americans say the U.S. "should be concerned" about Iran's nuclear research activities, according to the telephone survey of 2,435 U.S. adults. And 70% say they think Iran is using its research to build a nuclear weapon, the poll shows, while another 25% say they aren't sure.

The U.S. and its European allies are currently seeking a statement from the U.N. Security Council to reiterate demands by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, the process that can be used to generate nuclear power or make nuclear weapons.

But the poll shows Americans are mostly divided on whether the U.S. should have the backing of the U.N. in working to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Nearly half of U.S. adults, or 47%, say the U.S. "should only act with support from the United Nations," while 38% say the U.S. "can act alone, but it would be better to have support from the United Nations." READ MORE

Only 8% say the U.S. would be "perfectly justified to act alone."

Here are full results of the poll:

"Recently Iran said it was going to restart its nuclear technology research. Do you think this should be a concern for the U.S. or not?"

Base: All adults

	TOTAL
Should be a concern	85%
Should not be anything for the U.S. to worry about	6%
Not sure	9%

* * *
"Do you believe that Iran is using this research to try and build a nuclear weapon?"

Base: All adults

	TOTAL
Yes, Iran is using this research to try and build a nuclear weapon	70%
No, Iran is not using this research to try and build a nuclear weapon	5%
Not sure	25%

* * *
"In working to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, to what extent should the U.S. act alone, without support from the United Nations?"

Base: All adults

		PARTY ID
	TOTAL	Republican	Democrat	Independent
The U.S. should only act with support from the United Nations	47%	25%	63%	50%
The U.S. can act alone, but it would be better to have support from the United Nations	38	53	29	38
The U.S. is perfectly justified to act alone	8	17	2	7
Not sure	7	5	6	5

Methodology:

Harris Interactive conducted this online survey in the U.S., March 8-14, 2006, among a nationwide cross section of 2,435 adults. Figures for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income and region were weighted where necessary to align with population proportions. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of this size, one can say with 95% certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of =/- 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. This online sample is not a probability sample.

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About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a world-wide market research and consulting firm, best known for The Harris Poll and its use of the Internet to conduct scientifically accurate market research. For more information, see www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a participant in The Harris Poll Online and join future online surveys, see www.harrispollonline.com.