By Costas Pitas
March 31 (Reuters) – Two-thirds of Americans believe that the U.S. should work to end its involvement in the Iran war quickly, even if that means not achieving the goals set out by the Trump administration, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Some 66% of respondents to the poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, voiced that view, while 27% said the U.S. should work to achieve all its goals in Iran, even if the conflict goes on for an extended period. Six percent did not answer the question.
Among Trump’s Republicans, 40% supported ending the conflict quickly even if it did not achieve U.S. goals, while 57% supported a longer involvement.
The month-long war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of people and has hit the global economy with soaring energy prices, fuelling global inflation fears.
A total of 60% of respondents said they disapproved of U.S. military strikes on Iran, while 35% approved in the survey of 1,021 people.
One of the war’s most visible effects in the U.S. has been the rising cost of gasoline, which rose above $4 a gallon on Monday for the first time in more than three years, data from price tracking service GasBuddy showed.
Two in three respondents said they expected gas prices to worsen over the next year, including 40% of Republicans.
Trump’s Republicans face voters in November for midterm elections that will decide whether they can hold onto slim majorities in the House and Senate. The incumbent president’s party tends to lose seats in Congress in midterm elections.
More than half of respondents thought the conflict will have a mostly negative impact on their personal financial situation, including 39% of Republicans surveyed.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
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