Talking Points: Is Iran the Next Iraq?

World Public Opinion Polling Data, January 2007

• A majority of Iranians reject the idea that a conflict between Islamic and Western cultures is inevitable.
• A majority of Iranians believe it is possible for Islamic and Western cultures to find common ground.
• A substantially larger minority of Americans than Iranians believe that conflict between Islam and the West is inevitable.
• Iranians and Americans are concerned about terrorism and reject Osama Bin Laden overwhelmingly.
• Iranians overwhelmingly reject attacks intentionally aimed at civilians, including those targeting Americans.
• Very large majorities of Iranians have negative views of the United States overall, its influence in the world, its current government, its current president and its culture. Views of the American people are divided.
• Large majorities of Iranians perceive that US foreign policy is threatening and that U.S. bases in the Middle East are destabilizing the region and threatening to Iran.

Public Opinion in Iran and America on Key International Issues (World Public Opinion, January 2007)

Iranians and Americans Believe Islam and West Can Find Common Ground (World Public Opinion, January 2007)

“D.C. Area Iranians Criticize Reception of Ahmadinejad” (Pamela Constable, Washington Post: 9/26/07)

• Instead of Americans only focusing on Ahmadinejad’s views of the holocaust and homosexuality, Iranians said they wished that the rare encounter between a senior Iranian official and the U.S. public would raise issues that they consider more pressing to residents of Iran such as
• Oppression of women
• Quashing of political dissent
• Social control exercised by the country’s real powers among the conservative Shiite Muslim clergy
• Iranians do not necessarily support Ahmadinejad, and he is not the real source of power in the Iranian governmental structure. The real power over foreign affairs lies with Grand Ayatollah Khomeini.
• Trita Parsi stated that the hostile atmosphere surround Ahmadinejad’s visit has been “very counterproductive because it enables him to play the victim card and present himself as a defender of freedom of expression. We need to have dialogue with Iran over serious issues, not the kind of exchange that fuels polarization and becomes a game of insults.”

Pew Research Poll findings from August, 2007

• Public attitudes about Muslims and Islam have grown more negative in recent years
• About four in ten Americans (43%) say they have a favorable opinion of Muslims, while 35% have a negative opinion.
• Unfavorable opinions of Muslims have edged upward from 25% in 2005 to 29% in August, 2007
• 70% of non-Muslims said that the Islamic faith was very different from their own compared to 59% two years ago.
• When asked for the single word that best describes their impression of Islam, respondents answered most with “devout” and “fanatical”

“Public Expresses Mixed Views of Islam, Mormonism" (The Pew Research Center: Sept. 2007)

U.S. delegations to Iran:

• 13 Representatives of national religious groups and denominations journeyed to Iran to build bridges of understanding between the two nations
• They met with Muslim and Christian leaders, government officials and Iranians from all walks of life
• The delegation calls on the 2 countries to
• Immediately engage in direct, face-to-face talks
• Cease using language that defines the other using “enemy” images
• Promote more people-to-people exchanges, including among religious leaders, members of Parliament/Congress, and civil society
• Iranians and Americans told dramatically different histories of the two countries’ relations

NOW PBS: “Talking to Iran”

Words, Not War with Iran: A Study and Action Guide for People of Faith

“Light a Lamp for Peace” (by Marla Person Lester, Mennonite Central Committee: 8/07)

Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Delegations to Iran

“Interview with President of Physicians for Social Responsibility” (Catherine Thomasson interviews with Abbas Edalat: 7/2007):

Other Resources

Iran Nuclear Watch blog

“Give Diplomacy a Chance – Say NO to Military Conflict” (Iranian-American organizations join forces to prevent U.S.-Iran War)

“Cockroach Cartoon Crossed the Line, Iranians Say” (by Omid Memerian, Inter Press Service, 9/18/07)

"My Meeting with Ahamdinejad" (by Stephen Zunes for Foreign Policy in Focus, 9/28/07)

News Articles

“Students in Iran Protest President” (by Nazila Fathi, New York Times: 10/9/07):

“U.S. Calls Iranian Official Part of Elite Force” (by Paul Von Zielbauer, New York Times: 10/7/07):

Iran section of New York Times website

“Oil, Israel and America: The Root Cause of the Crisis” (by Scott Ritter, Common Dreams: 10/10/07)

“Israeli president brands Iran 'centre (sic) of global terror’” (Agence France Presse: 10/07)

“Hersh unfolds war plans against Iran” (Press TV, 10/10/07)

Organizations

Search for Common Ground

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Middle East Research and Information Project

Middle East Report

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Center for International Studies, MIT

Foreign Policy in Focus, Middle East Section

National Iranian American Council

National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger, Faithful Security

"Words, Not War" Campaign

World Public Opinion, Program on International Policy Attitudes

Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran

Partners in Humanity, Muslim/Western Relations at Search for Common Ground

Americans for Informed Democracy