Majority of Americans favor exit from Iran conflict, even if not all U.S. goals are achieved
Washington, D.C., March 31, 2026 – A new Ipsos poll conducted March 27-29 finds Americans prefer an expedited end to U.S. military action in Iran, even if it comes with tradeoffs. Overall, 66% say the U.S. should work to end its involvement in the conflict quickly, even if it means we do not achieve all of our goals in Iran. Far fewer (27%) take the view that the U.S. should work to achieve all of its goals in Iran, even if it means the conflict continues for an extended period of time.
The latest survey shows that the downside risks of the conflict remain more salient for the public than the potential benefits.
With the average price of gas in U.S. now over four dollars a gallon, 56% expect U.S. military action in Iran to have a negative impact on their own personal financial situation. A majority (66%) also think that gas prices will continue to get worse over the next year because of the conflict.
Large majorities remain very or somewhat concerned about the risk to the lives of American military personnel (86%) and financial costs of U.S. military action in Iran (77%). The share who are very concerned about the financial costs of the conflict has increased eight points since mid-March. Consistent with these views, the deployment of ground troops in Iran remains unpopular: 76% of Americans would oppose sending U.S. troops into Iran.
More than twice as many Americans expect stability in the Middle East and the quality of life for people in Iran to worsen rather than improve over the next year because of the conflict (52% vs. 21% and 49% vs. 21%, respectively). Previous Ipsos and Reuters/Ipsos polling has shown Americans are also skeptical that the conflict will improve the long-term security of the U.S.
About the Study
This Ipsos poll was conducted March 27-29, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,021 general population adults aged 18 or older.
The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, 2024 vote choice and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2025 NPORS annual survey, with a midyear adjustment estimated across aggregated KnowledgePanel surveys accounting for changes in panelists’ party identification over time. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- 2024 Vote Choice (Trump, Harris, Another candidate, Did not vote)
- Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.24. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Alec Tyson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
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