This Cato Institute article was posted today. The highlights are summarized below:
- 71 percent of (Iranian) respondents favored working with Washington to help resolve the Iraq war, while a mere 21 percent opposed such cooperation.
- 61 percent endorsed “full, unconditional negotiations” between the United States and the Iranian government on an array of issues. Only 28 percent rejected such diplomacy.
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other hardliners in Tehran who favor continuing the cold war with Washington have meager public support for their position.
On the other hand, there are some lowlights:
- A majority of Iranians (51 percent) embrace the goal of developing nuclear weapons. Only 39 percent oppose that objective.
The recommendation is to offer carrots as well as sticks – and for the carrots to not short change Iran to the point of insult, which would only drive Iranian public support to get behind their radical leaders.
