The support of Americans on the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran is steady, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey.
The survey showed that 36% of Americans support the efforts of President Barack Obama to reach a nuclear deal with Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Seventeen percent (17%) of the respondents are not in favor of such agreement
Forty-six percent (46%) of the adults admitted that they do not have enough information regarding the nuclear deal with Iran while 40% of Americans refused to provide their opinion or express their feelings regarding the issue.
The survey was conducted from June 14 to 18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
Preliminary nuclear deal with Iran
Last April, the negotiating parties reached a preliminary agreement with Iran regarding its nuclear program. Under the preliminary agreement, Iran would reduce its stockpile of nuclear materials. It would also significantly limit its uranium enrichment activities.Iran’s nuclear research will be monitored. The European Union would end sanctions against Iran following the implementation of a nuclear agreement.
Iran, world powers extend deadline for nuclear talks
The representatives of the United States together with five other world powers are currently in Vienna and negotiating a final agreement with Iran to reduce its nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions.
Iran and the world powers decided to extend the deadline for their final negotiations until July 7.
Yesterday, the United States emphasized to Iran that the preliminary agreement should remain the basis for a final nuclear deal.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been trying to backtrack on some of the critical elements of the preliminary agreement. Last month, Khamenei said Iran would not negotiate a nuclear deal with world powers “under the shadow of a threat.”
Khamenei told Iranian nuclear negotiators to “negotiate….but don’t accept imposition, humiliation, and threat.” The negotiators for Iran and the world powers were struggling to resolve two major sticking points to reaching final agreement.
The two major sticking points are allowing Iran to acquire nuclear technology and re-imposing UN sanction of it violates the terms of the nuclear deal.
U.S. senior official believes that there is a path forward to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran. He said,” This path forward has to be based on the Lausanne parameters.”
During a news conference in the White House, President Obama said, “There’s still some hard negotiations to take place, but ultimately this is going to be up to the Iranians to determine whether or not they meet the requirements that the international community has set forth to be able to fairly and accurately and consistently assess whether or not they have foreclosed the possibility of obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
“And given past behavior on the part of Iran that can’t simply be a declaration by Iran and a few inspectors wandering around every once in a while. That’s going to have to be a serious, rigorous verification mechanism. And that, I think, is going to be the test as to whether we get a deal or not,” added Pres. Obama.
