A survey conducted by a Netherlands-based polling institute found that most Iranian respondents believe Israel bested the Islamic Republic in a June war and support direct talks between Washington and Tehran.
The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) conducted the survey in September for the report "Iranians’ Attitudes Toward the 12-Day War" published on Wednesday.
It said it had carried out a "balanced statistical sample" of just over literate Iranian residents inside the country, adding the effort reflects the opinions of people aged 15 and older and reflect the views of the target population with a 95% credibility level.
GAMAAN director Ammar Maleki is an assistant professor of comparative politics at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and the national representative of Iran for the World Association of Public Opinion Research.
Direct talks
51% of respondents believed that Israel "was successful and achieved its objectives" in the conflict, while just 16% thought Tehran had been more successful and 19% said neither side had achieved its goals.
About 62% agreed Iran should negotiate directly with the United States to resolve its disputes," while 22% opposed direct talks.
Opinions on the missile program were polarized: 46% believed "Iran’s missile program has increased the country’s security," while 43% disagreed.
On uranium enrichment, 47% agreed that "to prevent another war, Iran should stop enriching uranium," while 36% disagreed.
When asked about the likelihood of a similar war occurring in the future, 34% rated the chance as "very likely" and 26% as "somewhat likely"; in contrast, 14% saw it as "unlikely" and 8% as "very unlikely."
Postwar crackdown
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran Mai Sato said last week that Israel likely violated international law in its military campaign in June and that Tehran had expanded domestic repression after the conflict with hundreds of executions and new curbs on dissent.
Sato urged Iran to repeal laws criminalizing peaceful expression, end the use of torture and forced confessions, and investigate deaths in custody and border killings.
Hundreds of military personnel and civilians were killed in the Israeli airstrikes while Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.
In this survey conducted after the 12-Day War, the proportion of respondents favoring the overthrow of the Islamic Republic increased by 6% compared to last year, while the share favoring "structural transformation and transition" declined by 3%.
Pursue peace
A majority (69%) believed "Iran should stop calling for the destruction of Israel," while 20% opposed this idea.
Accountability emerges in GAMAAN survey, as 45% point fingers at the government for igniting the deadly spark through provocative policies.
Regarding favorability of countries, the United States received the most positive ratings (53%) and the least negative (37%) among Iranians; Israel ranked second with 39% positive and 48% negative views.
