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The 2002 Iran-US Opinion Poll

The 2002 Iran-US opinion poll remains one of the most frequently discussed parts of Abbas Abdi’s biography.

In September 2002, an opinion poll conducted by Ayandeh and the National Institute of Public Opinion was published by the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

The poll reported that 74.4 percent of respondents favored resuming relations with the United States.

The result was politically sensitive because Iran and the United States had severed diplomatic relations after the 1979 revolution and embassy hostage crisis.

A poll suggesting that a large majority of Iranians favored renewed relations therefore attracted considerable attention.

The findings also became central to the prosecution of several people connected with the polling organization.

Why the Ayandeh Poll Became Controversial

The significance of the Ayandeh poll went beyond its numerical result.

It raised fundamental questions about the relationship between public opinion, government policy and political authority in Iran.

If a large share of the Iranian population supported renewed relations with Washington, the result could potentially challenge assumptions about Iranian public attitudes toward the United States.

The poll also became controversial because of the circumstances surrounding its production and publication.

Reporters Without Borders documented the arrests of Abdi and other researchers after the poll was published.

The Washington Institute similarly reported that the September 2002 survey indicated that approximately 74 percent of Iranians over age 15 favored restoring relations with the United States.

The subsequent legal proceedings became one of the most prominent cases involving public-opinion researchers and journalists in Iran during that period.

September 26, 2026 | 5:16 pm