The vast majority of Americans support diplomacy with Iran to constrain its nuclear program, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
A wide-ranging annual survey by the Eurasia Group Foundation, quoted by AFP, found that nearly 79 percent of US voters believe the United States "should continue to pursue negotiations to prevent Iran from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapon in the near future."
Former President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018, but the survey found that close to 72 percent of Republicans backed nuclear diplomacy with Iran. It did not ask about specific details of the 2015 deal.
The Eurasia Group Foundation polled 2,002 US adults of voting age from September 2-8.
Indirect talks between the US and Iran on a return to the 2015 deal have hit a snag in recent weeks.
Iran recently announced it had submitted its comments to the US response to the European Union’s draft for reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
While Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at the time that Iran’s response was prepared based on a constructive approach, a senior Biden administration official told Politico, “We are studying Iran’s response, but the bottom line is that it is not at all encouraging.”
A senior European official directly involved in nuclear talks with Iran later told Axios’ Barak Ravid that Iran’s latest response to the EU’s proposal is unreasonable and indicates that the Iranians are not interested in closing a deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian subsequently said that Iran's position in the negotiations has not been changed, claiming that "the only obstacle to an agreement is the lack of realism and necessary determination on the part of America."
Western diplomats have said there are no active negotiations at the moment and it is unlikely that a breakthrough could happen before the US midterm elections in November.
A US official said late last month that the efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have “hit a wall” because of Iran's insistence on the closure of the UN nuclear watchdog's investigations.
Earlier this week, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that it is still possible to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
"If the other side, particularly the US government, shows political will, it is possible that a deal will be concluded in a short period," he added.