First, the poll showed declining support for Iran throughout the Arab world. In 2006, Zogby noted, 80 percent of Arabs held a positive view of Iran. “Since then, there has been a steady drop,” he said, pointing out that Iran is now viewed negatively in 14 of the 20 countries polled. Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria and Libya are the only countries where Iran is viewed favorably, Zogby said, while Kuwait is evenly split.
In the opinion of Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Wilson Center’s Middle East program, the Iranian regime’s harsh response to the 2009 Green Movement severely damaged the country’s reputation in the region. “I think suddenly the Arab street was faced with the brutality of the Iranian regime,” she said.
Zogby added that Tehran’s decision to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been extremely destructive to the country’s image in the region, as only residents of Iraq and Lebanon—two of Syria’s three Arab neighbors—view Iran’s role in Syria positively. “Syria is…the nail in the coffin of Iran’s favorable rating across the region,” he opined.
Second, Zogby said, the poll reveals a growing sectarian divide in the Middle East. Citing data from Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, he noted that while 85 percent of all Saudis held a positive view of Iran in 2008, fewer than 20 percent now hold this view. This dramatic decrease in popularity is fueled by sectarian tensions, Zogby argued: while 90 percent of Saudi Shi’i view Iran favorably, almost none of the country’s Sunnis have a favorable view of Iran.
Lebanon is the only country whose citizens—regardless of religion or sect—consistently express favorable views of Iran, Zogby pointed out, noting that support for Iran seems to be the only issue that unites highly sectarian Lebanon. Zogby attributed this support to the fact that Iran was the only country that stood up against Israel’s 2006 onslaught against Lebanon.
Al Arabiya’s Washington, DC bureau chief, Hisham Melhem, questioned the accuracy of the results from Lebanon. “There is no way under the sun that 84 percent of the Lebanese would have a favorable view of Iran,” he stated. Indeed, Melhem noted, a May 2012 Pew Research poll found that 61 percent of Lebanese have an unfavorable view of Iran.
