Majority of Iranian Americans oppose US strikes on Iran, poll finds
A majority of Iranian Americans oppose military intervention in Iran and support a nuclear deal with Tehran, a new poll has found.
The survey, released on Tuesday, found that a plurality of Iranian Americans strongly opposed strikes on Iran, more than the number who supported them to any degree, and that Iranian Americans favoured negotiations over sanctions or military action as a means of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The poll, conducted between 10 May and 2 June 2025, prior to Israel's strikes, was organised by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), an advocacy group that describes itself as 'advancing the priorities of the Iranian-American community'.
Israel began pummelling Iran with unprovoked air strikes on 13 June, bombing oil facilities, nuclear sites, and civilian neighbourhoods, saying the strikes were a necessary pre-emptive measure to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran responded to Israel's attack, which has already killed hundreds of Iranians, with missile barrages of its own.
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The spectre of US involvement looms over the conflict, a question amplified by US President Donald Trump's belligerent social media posts threatening military action.
Opposition to military action
According to the results of the survey, 53 percent of Iranian Americans either strongly oppose or somewhat oppose military action, compared to 36 percent who either somewhat or strongly support military action.
Ryan Costello, policy director at NIAC, told Middle East Eye it was likely that opposition to military action would have increased following Israel's attacks on 13 June.
'Since it was conducted, Iranian Americans have had cause for their opinion to potentially shift pretty dramatically - and we'd expect it to typically be in an anti-war direction,' Costello said.
'Israel's bombing campaigns have been indiscriminate with a high civilian toll, foremost in Gaza, but also in Lebanon and now Iran. Apartment buildings have been levelled, car bombs set off, and even state TV was targeted,' Costello added.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 585 people, according to Human Rights Activists, a US-based human rights watchdog.
Iranian media reported that 60 of these people were killed in a single Israeli air strike on an apartment building in Tehran.
NIAC's poll found that many Iranian Americans support a nuclear deal with Iran, with 62 percent of respondents supporting a deal and 24 percent opposing one.
Meanwhile, Trump has said his patience for a deal is wearing thin, saying he is 'not too much in the mood to negotiate".
On social media and TV, he has repeatedly demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender".
NIAC's poll found that 49 percent of Iranian Americans believe negotiations would be the most successful way to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
According to the survey, which was released earlier than anticipated by NIAC, 22 percent believe that military action would be the most effective method, while eight percent believe sanctions would be the most effective method.
Around eight percent said that the US should not try to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
'There has been a concerted effort that we have seen in recent years to attack pro-diplomacy voices, including NIAC, and to portray the Iranian-American community as pro-war and against peaceful solutions. As the poll finds, this is not the case, and it is inaccurate to portray it as such,' Costello said.
Regime change
Among the voices clamouring for regime change is Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed last shah of Iran.
Pahlavi, who has previously alluded to receiving US government funding, has appeared on TV networks urging Iranians to rise against the government in Tehran.
Yet according to Costello, Iranian Americans are 'horrified, and the vast majority of voices we've seen both inside and outside Iran are condemning the war and hoping it doesn't get worse'.
A YouGov survey conducted earlier this week found that American adults were largely opposed to American involvement in the conflict.
The report, conducted shortly after Israel began striking Iran, found that 60 percent of American adults oppose US involvement and only 16 percent support it.
Among Democrats, 15 percent support involvement and 65 percent oppose it.
Even a majority of Republicans, 53 percent, oppose involvement, with only 23 percent supporting it, according to the poll.
Among independents, only 11 percent support involvement while 61 percent oppose it.
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