A survey conducted by an American polling center has yielded some interesting results about Iranian public opinion on a set of internal and foreign policy topics.

A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll, which surveyed over 1000 people, found that up to 60 percent of Iranians favor restoration of diplomatic ties between Tehran and Washington, while a similar proportion also favors direct talks between the two sides.
The results showed, however, that Iranians do not appear optimistic about U.S. President Barack Obama, as only 16 percent say that have confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs.
Only one in four Iranians said they believe that Obama respects Islam, and three quarters said that they still have an unfavorable opinion about the U.S. government despite his election.
But in spite of the low figures, Obama fared much better with Iranians than his predecessor George W. Bush, who only managed to gain the confidence of 6 percent of them in a similar poll conducted in 2008.
The survey, which was carried out between August 27 and September 10, also found that eight in 10 Iranians back the legitimacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency.
Up to 62 percent of those surveyed throughout the country said they had a great deal of confidence in the declared election results, while 21 percent said they have some confidence. Only 13 percent said they had little to no confidence in the outcome.
In general, eight in 10 indicated that they were satisfied with the process by which authorities are elected.
Of the 87 percent who said they voted in the June 12 presidential election, 55 percent said they voted for Ahmadinejad,14 percent said they voted for this main rival Mir Hossein Mousavi, and 26 percent did not answer.
Asked about what their choice would be in a re-election, 49 percent said they would vote for Ahmadinejad, eight percent said they would pick Mousavi, and 13 percent said they would not vote. This is while 26 percent refused to answer.
Commenting on the poll, WPO Director Steven Kull said the surveys' findings on voting preference were ""not a solid basis for estimating the actual vote"", because of the high number of respondents who refused to answer the relevant questions.
""The extremely high number of people refusing to answer questions about their voting preference--something not found in response to any other questions--suggests that people have some discomfort with this topic,"" he said.
Despite Kull's views on the issue, up to 80 percent said Ahmadinejad was honest, 64 percent of respondents expressed a lot of confidence in him, and nine in ten said they were satisfied with Iran's system of government.
Six in ten said they approved of the Guardian Council, which oversees elections and ratifies laws, and 55 percent said that the way the Leader of the Islamic Revolution is elected is consistent with the principles of democracy.
Up to 60 percent also said they were comfortable with the extent of the Leader's power.
Going back to foreign policy issues, Iranians displayed high levels of mistrust in the U.S. Eight in ten said Washington seeks to weaken and divide the Muslim world, while three quarters said the U.S. wants to impose American culture on Muslim societies.
Although Obama's anti-settlement rhetoric appeared to have raised (from 12 to 25 percent) the number of Iranians who believe the U.S. favors an independent Palestinian state, the majority still said they did not think that was the United State's goal.
Attitudes toward the American people, however, were largely positive, with 51 percent of those polled expressing favorable feelings toward Americans.
Asked about the prospect of ""Iran cooperating with the U.S. to combat the Taliban operating in Afghanistan near Iran's border,"" 43 percent said they supported the idea, while 41 percent were opposed.
(Source: Press TV)