Nearly half the public favors working with Iran to defeat ISIS and only a quarter oppose it
Relations between the US and Iran have been slowly improving over the past two years, since formal negotiations began to end Iran's nuclear program in exchange for ending economic sanctions against the country. The sudden emergence of the ISIS, also known as the Islamic State, in Iraq and Syria has forced the two countries into a position where their regional aims are increasingly aligned. Iran supports both the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Syrian government in Damascus against rebels, the most powerful of whom are now ISIS, while the United States has made the defeat of ISIS a top priority. Both countries continue to deny that they are cooperating with each other but reports indicate that, in reality, cooperation between the two has already begun this summer.
YouGov's latest research shows that Americans tend to think that working with Iran in order to defeat ISIS would be a good idea. 47% favor cooperation with Iran against ISIS, while 26% oppose it. 64% of Democrats favor of cooperation with Iran, the highest of any group, while only 15% are against it. Independents also tend to support cooperating with Iran, though at 40% this falls short of a majority, while 26% are opposed. Republicans, however, narrowly oppose (41%) rather than support (37%) cooperating with Iran in order to defeat ISIS.
So far the United States has been the country most directly involved in the fight against ISIS, with US jets launching airstrikes on insurgent targets. In the wake of a recent spate of deadly suicide bombings in Iraq, however, the Iranian government yesterday re-emphasized their commitment to Iraq's security, saying that the security of Iran and Iraq are 'inseparable'.
Full poll results can be found here.
