A U.S. sailor assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Thomas Hudner watches a Tomahawk missile launch March 5, 2026. Most U.S. voters oppose the ongoing military campaign in Iran, and nearly three-quarters say they’re against sending American ground troops into the country, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University. (U.S. Navy)
More than half of the American electorate opposes the ongoing military campaign against Iran, according to a new poll, in which nearly three-quarters of respondents also said they would be against the use of U.S. ground forces there.
Overall, 53% of U.S. voters oppose the military action in Iran named Operation Epic Fury, while 40% support it, according to the Quinnipiac University poll.
Opinion is sharply divided along party lines, with 89% of Democrats and 60% of independents opposing the strikes and 85% of Republicans supporting them.
The survey, released Monday, comes after the United States and Israel began airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
President Donald Trump’s administration said the attacks targeted the country’s missile and nuclear programs and were intended to counter what it called an imminent threat posed by Iran to the United States, Israel and other allies in the Middle East.
Iran has responded to the airstrikes with retaliatory attacks across the region. As of Tuesday, at least seven U.S. service members have been killed and several others injured, according to the Pentagon.
To a poll question on whether U.S. ground troops should be sent into Iran, 74% said no, while 20% expressed support for the idea.
Opposition to sending troops is widespread across the political spectrum: 95% of Democrats, 75% of independents and 52% of Republicans oppose the move, the poll found.
The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,236 self-identified registered voters nationwide from March 6-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt declined to rule out deploying U.S. ground troops when asked about the possibility Sunday on Fox News.
However, Trump told the New York Post on Monday that he is “nowhere near” deciding whether to send troops into Iran.
Trump has said the strikes were necessary to stop Tehran from advancing weapons programs and threatening American forces and partners in the region.
The Quinnipiac poll found that 62% of voters thought Trump’s explanation for the strikes was not clear, while 31% said it was.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its uranium enrichment program is for civilian purposes such as nuclear power generation.
Most poll respondents, 55%, said Iran did not pose an imminent military threat to the United States before the strikes began. By contrast, 39% said it did.
Many respondents also expressed concern about the economic impact of the conflict. More than seven in 10 voters said they were either very concerned or somewhat concerned that the strikes could cause oil and gas prices in the United States to rise.
“Voters know the score: pain at the pump is inevitable,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement accompanying the results. “When about 20 percent of the world’s oil flows through a region torn apart by conflict, it will eventually hit home at the local filling station.”
