TEHRAN – Polls show most Americans oppose the U.S. aggression against Iran, reflecting widespread public skepticism and little appetite for another foreign war.

The United States is deeply divided over its ongoing aggression against Iran, with the war exposing sharp divisions among the American public and the Trump administration. 

President Donald Trump, who won the presidency in 2024 on a platform promising an end to “endless wars,” authorized an illegal, immoral, unprovoked and dangerous war against Iran along with the Israeli regime in the early hours of February 28. The air raids on Iran marked a major escalation, placing the United States as the aggressor in a war that has raised concerns both at home and abroad.

An Economist/YouGov poll asked Americans whether they support or oppose the U.S. using military force to overthrow the government of Iran. The results reveal only 32% of respondents support the aggression. 

The poll highlights sharp differences across racial, gender, age, and educational lines. Among white respondents, 37% support the war, compared with 44% opposed. 

Among Black Americans, support drops dramatically to 7%, with 60% opposed. Hispanic respondents fall in between.

Gender also shapes opinions: 37% of men support the war, compared with just 26% of women. Age is a strong predictor of support, with only 21% of adults aged 18–29 backing the intervention and 50% opposing it, while 40% of those over 65 support the campaign, with 49% opposed. 

Education also matters: respondents without a college degree are more likely to support the war (34%) than those with a degree (27%).

Taken together, the data suggest that young, educated women of color are among the most likely to oppose the war, while older, less-educated white men are most likely to support it.

Other polls are also highly negative of the Trump administration’s decision. According to a CNN survey, nearly 60% of Americans disapprove of the U.S. military action against Iran. The majority, 56%, say they believe a long-term military conflict between the two nations was likely.

Only a quarter, 27%, believe that the United States made enough of an effort at diplomacy with Iran before using military force, and 39% say the U.S. did not try hard enough at using diplomacy first. The survey shows most Americans doubt Trump’s management of the war. 

A majority say they do not trust their president to make the right military decisions, with 60% believing he lacks a clear plan and 62% saying he should seek congressional approval before any further action.

The polling underscores a broader trend: most Americans remain wary of new military adventures in West Asia. There is little appetite for a war with unclear goals, high costs, and uncertain outcomes. The results suggest that voters are skeptical of both the necessity and the likely success of U.S. military action in Iran, reflecting a lingering post-Iraq and Afghanistan war skepticism that crosses party lines.

Republican leaders have attempted to shift the public’s attention toward domestic issues such as inflation, jobs, and housing, seeking to minimize voter focus on the illegal aggression. 

This strategy of emphasizing domestic matters over foreign policy issues shows there is a great concern that the war could jeopardize the party’s support base. 

However, public awareness of the human and economic costs of the war, coupled with lingering distrust of Trump’s foreign policy credibility, limits the effectiveness of this diversion tactic. 

Trump’s reversal on his 2024 campaign pledge of ending “forever wars” further complicates the administration’s messaging. In a recent post on social media, the U.S. president stated that “wars can be fought forever”. 

His voters, including those who supported him for a supposedly economic agenda, feel alienated by the administration’s willingness to engage in a distant, costly conflict far from American borders. The sense of skepticism among those who voted for Trump has created a volatile political environment for Republicans.

Many voters remain uncertain or unaware of the objectives of the war. Messaging from President Trump and senior administration officials has shifted between preventing an Iran from developing nuclear weapons, neutralizing its missile capabilities, and pursuing regime change. The lack of a clear, consistent rationale appears to have contributed to public hesitation, even among those sympathetic to waging an illegal war.

The situation is becoming more complicated for Americans by the hour because of the shifting stands in the administration’s narrative. Trump says one thing, Vice President JD Vance says another while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth speaks of different war objectives. Most dramatically, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed that the United States’ decision to go to war had essentially been forced by the Zionist regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

As the war continues, the domestic political fallout may prove as significant as developments on the battlefield. The war on Iran has not only divided public opinion but also created tangible risks for Trump and the Republican Party in the November mid-term elections. 

No matter how the war unfolds, it is unlikely that Trump can regain enough support to prevent the Republicans from losing control of the House, and potentially the Senate.