A majority of American voters are opposed to the recent military action in Iran and 77 percent expect it will result in a terror attack on U.S. soil, a new poll shows.
It’s been over a week since the U.S. and Israel began launching strikes against Iran. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads the U.S. Central Command, has said the goal is to “eliminate Iran's ability to threaten Americans” as President Donald Trump claims the Middle Eastern country was rebuilding its nuclear program and planning to attack U.S. forces.
At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the war, the Associated Press reported, citing officials in the country. The strikes also killed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has taken over as Iran’s supreme leader.
A Quinnipiac University poll taken over the weekend found 53 percent of voters oppose the military action in Iran and just 40 percent support it. Looking along party lines, 89 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of independents oppose the strikes, and 85 percent of Republicans support them.
Most voters, 55 percent, do not think Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S. before the strikes, while 39 percent did. Now, 77 percent of voters think it is either very likely or somewhat likely that there will be a terrorist attack in the U.S. because of the military action in Iran.
Shortly after the U.S. began striking Iran, Trump warned of casualties.
“My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” Trump said.
So far, seven American service members have been killed in the war.
The military action in Iran has also caused oil prices to surge to more than $100 a barrel, leaving consumers to bear the brunt of increased gas prices.
In Quinnipiac’s poll, 74 percent of voters said they either are very concerned or somewhat concerned that the Iran war will cause oil and gas prices to rise.
Trump’s approval rating remains low at 37 percent, basically unchanged from a Quinnipiac poll from last month. Looking specifically at the Iran war, just 38 percent approve of the president’s handling of the situation.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also has a 37 percent approval rating.
Speaking to reporters in Tampa Thursday, Hegseth said of the Iran war, “We have only just begun to fight and fight decisively.”
But in an interview with CBS News Monday, Trump said he thought the war is “very complete, pretty much.”
Iran has “no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones,” he said.
Voters are undecided about when they think the war will end: 18 percent think it will take weeks, 32 percent think months and 26 percent think the conflict will last longer than a year.
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