Iran

The economy, a hate crime, health care and Detroit’s problems all competed for attention in last week’s news landscape. But a presidential vote in Iran commanded much of the late-week coverage, as the press focused on a nation it often tends to ignore.

Majorities or pluralities in 20 of 24 countries surveyed in the 2008 Pew Global Attitudes poll express unfavorable opinions of Iran.

For most of the year, the American media have been far more preoccupied with the war in Iraq than with growing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. But last week, a new intelligence report sparked a heated debate over policy toward the leadership in Tehran.

Will Shared Concerns About Iran Promote Compromise?

Key West, Florida Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2007 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Ray Takeyh, a leading expert on Iran and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, shed light on the complex and diffuse […]

For much of 2007, the conflict in Iraq has dominated news coverage. Last week, a scenario that had largely been confined to a few cable hosts—the role of Iran and the possibility of war there—made its way onto the media agenda.

That's the percentage of the American public who favor direct negotiations with Iran over the issue of its nuclear program

America's global image has again slipped and support for the war on terrorism has declined even among close U.S. allies like Japan. The war in Iraq is a continuing drag on opinions of the United States, not only in predominantly Muslim countries but in Europe and Asia as well. And despite growing concern over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the U.S. presence in Iraq is cited at least as often as Iran - and in many countries much more often - as a danger to world peace.

Summary of Findings Most Americans believe that Iran wants to possess nuclear technology in order to develop nuclear weapons, not energy. But there is broad public opposition to launching U.S. air strikes against military targets in Iran, with multilateral sanctions by far the preferred option approach for dealing with the situation. More than eight-in-ten Americans […]

Summary of Findings Public concern over Iran’s nuclear program has risen dramatically in the past few months. Today, 27% of Americans cite Iran as the country that represents the greatest danger to the United States. In October, just 9% pointed to Iran as the biggest danger to the U.S., while there was far more concern […]