Support for protests in Iran significant: “81 per cent of Iranians do not want an Islamic republic”

The research foundation Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN), led by Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Pooyan Tamimi Arab and Dr Ammar Maleki (Tilburg University), shows in a new poll that 81 percent of Iran’s literate adult population do not want an Islamic republic. Among Iranians living abroad, the figure is as high as 99 per cent. With similar percentages, support for the protests that followed the death of 22-year-old student Mahsa Amini in September 2022, is also significant.

Large majority of Iranians oppose an Islamic republic

GAMAAN researchers asked more than 200,000 Iranians, about 158,000 of whom live in Iran and 42,000 abroad, the question ‘Islamic Republic: yes or no?’. The vast majority of respondents answered ‘no’: 81 per cent of current residents of Iran and 99 per cent of Iranians living abroad. 15 per cent of Iranians currently living in Iran answered the question with ‘yes’ and 4 per cent with ‘not sure’.

The respondents who answered ‘no’ or ‘not sure’ were asked a follow-up question about their preference for a different kind of regime. 28 per cent of Iranians in Iran and 32 per cent of Iranians outside Iran hope for a presidential republic, 12 and 29 per cent for a parliamentary republic and 22 and 25 per cent for a constitutional monarchy, respectively.

Support for protests in Iran

GAMAAN also surveyed the level of support for the protests that have been ongoing in Iran for months. This proved to be high: 80 per cent of Iran’s residents support the protests. 67 per cent of them believe the demonstrations will succeed, 14 per cent think not. Some 15 per cent of the population say they do not support the protests.

Iranians abroad support the protests in even greater numbers at 99 per cent. Of them, 90 per cent think the demonstrations will succeed, compared to 9 per cent who think not.

Western sanctions against Iranian regime

73 per cent of Iranians in Iran and 96 per cent of Iranians abroad think Western countries should support the activists by seriously pressuring the Iranian government. In contrast, 19 per cent of Iranians believe the protests are an exclusively national issue.

GAMAAN also measured support for the establishment of a ‘solidarity council’ with prominent activists, trust in Iranian institutions and preferences for punitive measures for those responsible for the deaths of activists. These, like the above results, can be found in the research report ‘Iranians’ Attitudes Toward the 2022 Nationwide Protests’. The report also details the research methods and representativeness.