Poll: 65 Percent of US Citizens Believe Trump Will Attack Iran via Ground Forces

Washington - A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday (19/3) shows that around 65 percent of US citizens believe US President Donald Trump will deploy ground forces for a large-scale military attack against Iran.

Meanwhile, only 7 percent support that step.

The poll also indicates that 77 percent of Republicans approve of US attacks on Iran, while 6 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of independents approve.

Overall, around 37 percent of respondents approve of the war, and 59 percent disapprove.

According to the report, around one-third of Americans say they would support deploying a small number of special forces to Iran, and 55 percent oppose deploying any troops to Iran, whether in large or small numbers.

The poll was conducted among 1,545 US adults over three days. The margin of error is around 3 percentage points.

Previously, on 28 February, the US and Israel began attacking several targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran then carried out retaliatory attacks in Israeli territory and against US military bases in the Middle East.

The US and Israel initially claimed the attacks were “preemptive” to counter threats perceived from Iran’s nuclear programme, but they soon clarified that they sought regime change in Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the military operation. The Islamic Republic of Iran subsequently declared a 40-day mourning period.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin described Khamenei’s killing as a violation of international law.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry then condemned the US and Israeli operations against Iran and called for the hostilities to be stopped immediately.