WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A vast majority of Americans think the U.S. should not withdraw from an international agreement aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, according to the results of a new CNN poll.
The poll found that 67 percent of Americans think the U.S. should not withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, while just 27 percent think the U.S. should withdraw.
Eighty percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Independents think the U.S. should not withdraw, while Republicans are split 48 percent to 47 percent.
The survey was conducted as President Donald Trump announced his decision to decertify Iran's compliance with the agreement, claiming that the Islamic republic is not living up to the spirit of the deal.
Trump stopped short of pulling out of the deal, giving Congress sixty days to decide whether to re-impose sanctions on Iran.
The president has urged lawmakers to amend the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to establish a series of benchmarks that could automatically restore sanctions.
'We'll see what phase two is. Phase two might be positive, and it might be very negative,' Trump said on Monday. 'It might be a total termination. That's a very real possibility.'
Trump was critical of the agreement with Iran throughout the presidential campaign and has called it 'one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.'
The poll results suggest American concerns about the threat posed by Iran have declined since the nuclear deal was put in place.
Thirty percent of Americans said Iran represents a 'very serious' threat to the U.S., down from 49 percent in September of 2015.
Nonetheless, a total of 69 percent of Americans still said Iran represents a 'very serious' or 'moderately serious' threat to the U.S.
Americans seem more concerned about the threat posed by North Korea, with 62 percent saying the reclusive communist nation represents a 'very serious' threat to the U.S.
Another 24 percent said North Korea represents a 'moderately serious' threat, while 8 percent said it represents 'just a slight' threat and 4 percent said it represents 'no threat at all.'
Concerns about the threat posed by North Korea have spiked in recent months amid a war of words between Trump and Kim Jong-un.
The poll found that 52 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling the situation with North Korea compared to the 37 percent that approve.
Sixty-three percent also said Trump's response to threats from North Korea has more often been reckless, while 32 percent said his response has more often been responsible.
The CNN poll of 1,010 respondents was conducted by SSRS from October 12th through 15th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX