This story, the third in a series of in-depth looks at
Iranian public opinion, examines Iranians' views about the Sept. 11
attacks and the U.S. military response in Afghanistan, as well as
Iranians' opinions about Western nations.
Like much of the world, Iranians were shocked by the Sept. 11
attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Despite widespread
public antipathy toward the United States -- only one Iranian in
seven expresses a favorable view of the United States -- reaction
to the attacks within Iran was overwhelmingly negative. Only a
small minority of Iranians interviewed for Gallup's poll of nine
predominantly Islamic countries saw the attacks as morally
justifiable, while the vast majority disagreed with this
assessment, and at least half said there could be no moral
justification for the attacks whatsoever.
It should be noted, however, that Iranians (interviewed in
December and January) also expressed strong disapproval of the
military response to the attacks taken by the United States and its
allies. Only about one Iranian in 10 said that America's military
actions in Afghanistan were justified morally, while nearly three
quarters felt otherwise.
General Perceptions of the West
Since the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran following
the fall of the shah in 1979, the scope of Iran's cultural contact
with Europe and North America has been sharply curtailed. After a
generation of relative isolation and increasing economic
stagnation, what general impressions do Iranians have of Western
societies?
Of 10 positive descriptive statements, the only one that an
outright majority of Iranians associate with the West is the
assertion that the West is "technologically advanced" (65%). The
second most widely associated statement -- selected by 24% -- is
that citizens of Western countries enjoy equality regarding their
political rights and responsibilities.
These two positive descriptions of the West are most likely to
be acknowledged by younger Iranians. Among Iranian adults under the
age of 30, 70% think Western countries are technologically
advanced, and nearly a third (29%) think citizens enjoy political
equality in the West.
It is worth noting that more than 40% of all Iranian adults fall
between the ages of 18 and 29 -- a reflection of the huge "baby
boom" that was officially encouraged by the late Ayatollah
Khomeini. This is the portion of the adult population that has had
the least direct experience with the non-Islamic world, as
its members were no older than age 4 when the Islamic republic was
established. Yet it is precisely this age segment that is most
likely to say it associates the West with political equality and
technological advancement.
Other attributes tested in the survey are less likely to be seen
as generally descriptive of the West. Roughly one in 10 Iranians
say they think the West is a region that gives fair treatment to
minorities, produces enjoyable films and music, cares about poorer
nations, and that is willing to share its technological know-how
with others. Only a very small proportion of Iranians associates
the West with the tendencies to respect Islamic values (9%), adopt
even-handed or supportive diplomatic positions (particularly in
regard to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute) (7%), or take a fair
approach in general toward predominantly Islamic societies
(4%).
Opinion of the United States, Britain, France, Russia and
China
As mentioned earlier, only a small minority of Iranians express
a favorable opinion of the United States, while more than half
(54%) describe their overall impression of the United States as
"very unfavorable." The poll also asked Iranians about their
overall impressions of four other countries: Britain, France,
Russia and China. Each of these countries hosts a significant
Muslim minority, but all are clearly secular and non-Islamic
societies from an Iranian perspective.
China and France are the most favorably viewed of these four,
with 41% of Iranians expressing a generally favorable view of the
China (32% unfavorable), and 38% taking a favorable view of France
(27% unfavorable). Great Britain is viewed far less favorably,
perhaps not surprisingly because it was America's most active and
outspoken ally during the military action in Afghanistan. Just over
half of all Iranians (54%) expressed an unfavorable opinion of
Great Britain, while only 28% described their opinion of Britain as
favorable.
Attitudes toward Russia were divided, with roughly a third
expressing a predominantly unfavorable opinion, and virtually the
same proportion taking the opposite view. Highly negative
assessments of Russia outnumber highly favorable ones by a wide
margin, however -- a pattern that holds for each of the other four
countries.
