Majority of Americans want Congress to block Iran nuclear deal

(TRNS)- A CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday found that a majority of Americans want Congress to reject the controversial nuclear agreement with Iran announced earlier this month.

The new CNN/ORC poll finds 49 percent approve of the way Obama is handling his job, 47 percent disapprove, about the same as in a June survey which found the president’s approval rating at 50 percent for the first time since 2013.

Democrats and Americans under the age of 35 tended to support the Iran deal, while Republicans and adults over the age of 35 opposed it. Women opposed the deal slightly more strongly than men.

In a recent Washington Post/ABC poll, 56 percent of Americans said they supported the deal, while 52 percent didn’t approve of how Obama has handled the situation with Iran.

Since then, the Obama administration has been aggressively pitching the deal to a skeptical American public and Congress. Many Republicans have vowed to do everything in their power to block the deal’s full implementation.

The deal ensures that Iran is “permanently banned” from developing nuclear weapons, Kerry said, adding that numerous restrictions imposed would be in place “not just for 15 or 20 years, but for the lifetime” of its nuclear program, reported The Associated Press.

On another subject, 41 percent of Americans said the economy was in good shape, compared to 59 percent who described it as poor.

Two-thirds of Republicans, 66 percent, and a majority of independents, 55 percent, say Congress should reject the deal.

During that time, most U.S. economic indicators have remained positive, though the stock market has fallen recently amid global financial turmoil in Greece and China. Among Democrats, 58 percent call the economy “good”, but that’s down 18 points since April, when 76 percent said it was very or somewhat good. When asked if they felt better off than they were three years ago, 49% of the respondents said yes, while 38% said no.

The latest CNN/ORC survey of 1,017 U.S. adults was conducted July 22-25 via telephone with a margin of error of 3 points.