Busting Out: Iranian Public Opinion toward the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
25 Pages Posted: 26 Dec 2011 Last revised: 24 Dec 2012
Date Written: December 26, 2011
Abstract
This article seeks to explore Iranian popular opinion on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the determinants of Iranian attitudes. Using data from a 2008 survey of 710 Iranians administered by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), we find that that an important minority of Iranians (10 percent in 2006 and 14 percent in 2008) would prefer Iran withdraw from the NPT. Our statistical analysis shows that Iranians who fear a U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and distrust the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are more likely to want to quit the NPT. Thus we argue that those who do not trust other nations are most likely to oppose the NPT.
Keywords: Iran, nuclear proliferation, NPT, public opinion
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