Most Americans say Iran war not worth fighting, AP-NORC poll finds

Most Americans believe the war with Iran has not been worth fighting, while President Donald Trump's approval rating on his handling of the conflict has declined slightly, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The survey found that about two-thirds of U.S. adults consider the conflict, which began on February 28, to have been not worthwhile. Public approval of Trump's handling of Iran fell to 28%, down from 34% last month, while Republican approval dropped from 71% in June to 61%, within the poll's margin of error.

The findings also show that Americans place greater importance on keeping gasoline prices low and negotiating a permanent ceasefire than on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Support for continuing military action remains limited. Only about two in ten Americans favour further operations, while roughly three in ten prefer pausing military action to seek a ceasefire.

Robert McClary, a 52-year-old Republican from Ohio, criticised the administration's handling of the conflict.

"I don’t have any trust in this administration at all and to why they brought us into this war, why they’re putting our soldiers at risk again," he said.

He added:

"I really don’t know what you can do now. I mean, you’ve kind of gotten yourself buried into this mess."

Jennifer Norton, a 71-year-old Republican from Tennessee, said she still supports Trump despite rising prices.

"I am getting a little impatient, but when I start to dwell on that for a minute, I remember Mr. President Trump is a brilliant businessman," she said. "He can’t tell us exactly what he’s doing, but I trust that he’s doing something. I mean, he is doing fine."

Ryan Sloan, a Republican from Florida, said he wanted more transparency about the escalation.

"Let’s face it, not everybody’s going to be happy with him," Sloan said. "I just wish I’d have had more transparency about why things were going on the way they were."

The poll also found that 72% of Americans consider preventing increases in oil and gas prices highly important, while around four in ten say fuel costs are a major source of stress.

The AP-NORC poll surveyed 1,165 adults from July 23 to 27 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

By Aghakazim Guliyev