Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

Americans have little faith in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran negotiated by the Obama administration, a new poll shows.

Last Sunday, President Donald Trump declined to recertify Iranian compliance with the controversial JCPOA, drawing criticism from congressional Democrats but praise from Republicans, including Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas, who said Iran was clearly in violation of the agreement.

By law, the president is required to certify Iranian compliance every 90 days. Failure to do so triggers a restoration of sanctions on Iran which were lifted as part of the JCPOA, unless Congress votes to delay or alter the sanctions regime.

Days before the October 15th deadline, President Trump called for new negotiations to restructure the JCPOA.

“Fix it, or nix it,” the president said.

According to a new Harvard-Harris poll, Americans – including a majority of Democrats – are unsatisfied with the deal and believe Iran is not keeping its end of the agreement.

“Americans see Iran as a bad actor on all fronts and substantial majorities believe this agreement is being violated and never should have gone into effect without a Senate vote,” said Harvard-Harris co-director Mark Penn, The Hill reported.

“The polling certainly raises questions about the strategy of some Democrats to attack Trump when he attacks Iran or North Korea, two regimes universally despised by Americans.”

Sixty percent of all voters say the JCPOA was a bad deal for the US, while two-thirds Iran has not complied with the agreement. Half of Democratic respondents agreed that Iran had not fulfilled its side of the agreement.

More than two-thirds (70%) say the JCPOA should be renegotiated and verified by Congress. Broken down by partisan affiliation, 85% of self-described Republicans say the deal should be renegotiated, along with 71% of independents, and 57% of Democrats.

About four-fifths (81%) believe that a new agreement should be require approval by the US Senate, like all official treaties.

A slimmer majority, however, approved of President Trump’s decision not to recertify, with just 51% saying he made the right decision.

The survey was conducted from October 14th to the 18th, and included a sample size of 2,159 registered voters, 36% of whom are self-described Democrats, 32% Republicans, 28% independents, and 4% affiliated with a third party.