AJN STAFF

AUSTRALIANS generally do not trust Iran, but prefer diplomacy as a means of disarming the Teheran regime’s nuclear weapons program.

These emerged as some of the attitudes of Australians polled on Iran and other troubling world issues in the latest annual Lowy Institute poll.

Asked how much they trust Iran “to act responsibly in the world”, the country was ranked bottom of a list that also included the United States, Japan, India, China, Russia and Indonesia, with 75 per cent stating “not at all/not very much”, compared to only 18 per cent choosing that description for the top-ranking US.

Asked to choose which method they would prefer “to deal with Iran developing nuclear weapons”, 85 per cent favoured “diplomatic negotiations”.

A large majority (69 per cent) also supported “economic sanctions”, while just a third (32 per cent) were in favour of “military means”.

Asked to rank Iran on a scale of 100-0 in terms of a “warm, favourable feeling”, the mean score for Iran was 38, with Afghanistan at 37 and North Korea coming last at 30. New Zealand topped the table at 83, with the US at 67.

Choosing from a list of 12 “possible threats to the vital interests of Australia”, 69 per cent of respondents identified “the possibility of unfriendly countries becoming nuclear powers” as a “critical” threat.

And 50 per cent of respondents chose “Islamic fundamentalism” as a “critical” threat, while only 43 per cent chose “AIDS, avian flu and other potential epidemics”, with 27 per cent, the smallest category, identifying “failing countries in our region” as “critical”.

As Iran’s nuclear weapons development proceeds, its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeatedly rejected the legitimacy of Israel and has described the Holocaust as a Zionist myth concocted as a justification for the Jewish State’s existence.

The Lowy Institute poll findings were released as Fairfax newspapers reported that Canberra had brokered a meeting between Australian and Iranian officials in Cairo last month during a summit of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, a panel of experts put together by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.