Nournews: The narrative pursued by mainstream global media in their analysis of Iran is to portray Iranians as deeply critical of the authorities because of their difficult economic and living conditions, suggesting that the so-called government-society divide in Iran has reached its peak and that there is a significant estrangement and distance between the people and the existing political system. This portrayal is emphasized while the complexity and diversity within Iranian society are essentially overlooked, and a simplistic, one-dimensional narrative of Iran is presented as the dominant picture.
There is no denying that realities such as war, economic hardship and managerial inefficiency have contributed to social dissatisfaction in Iran. The question, however, is whether the social landscape of the opposing side, namely the United States, is entirely free of such problems and grievances. Have the damaging consequences of war affected only Iran, while what is happening in the United States is nothing but social support for its governing establishment?
Repeated polls on how Americans view their government tell a different story. Public opinion surveys are society’s second language, and in that sense, a single figure can sometimes say more than dozens of analyses. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll in the United States shows that Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 33 percent, while 64 percent of Americans disapprove of his performance. Meanwhile, 80 percent of Americans believe US involvement in the war with Iran will continue for a long time, while only 16 percent consider an end to the war within the next few weeks likely. More importantly, only one in five Americans believe the war with Iran has been worth the cost their country is paying.
At first glance, these figures might be seen simply as signs of declining support for a president. But the issue is larger than that. The latest poll, viewed alongside previous surveys, shows that the United States is facing a crisis of declining trust in political institutions and a growing distance between society and the power structure. A July 2026 Gallup poll shows that average American trust in 14 major national institutions stands at just 27 percent, close to a historic low. Public trust in the federal government has also remained at very low levels in recent years. Pew data likewise shows that trust in the government in Washington in 2025 was at one of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades.
The United States today is a clear example of a society dissatisfied with its government. The war with Iran and its social and economic consequences for Americans have made this divide more visible. In the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 35 percent of Americans supported the war; 50 percent believed US military action would reduce stability in the Middle East, while only 17 percent expected the war to increase stability.
Politically, these figures are highly significant for the Trump administration because the US president returned to power promising to avoid “stupid wars,” but now faces a prolonged conflict whose stated objectives are unclear to the public, while its economic costs are being felt directly in people’s daily lives. In the same poll, 58 percent of Americans expected problems with gasoline prices to increase, while only 15 percent expected an improvement.
In the United States, however, the government-society divide is largely expressed through existing political mechanisms. The public may be dissatisfied, but there are channels for turning dissatisfaction into political competition, elections, changes of government and policy reform. That is why a decline in Trump’s approval rating does not immediately become a crisis threatening the survival of the political system; instead, it can become a crisis for an administration or a political party. Recent data also shows that Americans have lost trust in many political institutions, but this distrust is itself reproduced through political competition and demands for reform.
Iran’s picture, based on official data, is also noteworthy. On the one hand, official survey data points to problems in the government-society relationship. According to a May 2026 survey by the ARA Opinion Research Center, 65.6 percent of respondents favored reforming the country while remaining within the framework of the Islamic Republic; 52.7 percent preferred fundamental reforms and 13.9 percent limited reforms. The same report put overall support for the political system at 58.9 percent. Yet the same survey reveals another highly important reality: social and institutional trust remains in the 25-to-35 percent range. In addition, 63.6 percent of respondents reported high levels of anger and frustration in their daily lives, 50.2 percent said they were pessimistic about an improvement in conditions, and more than half of households said their income was insufficient to cover current expenses. Another finding from the same survey showed that more than 81 percent of people faced some degree of difficulty obtaining food, while 46.9 percent identified “officials’ inefficiency” as the main root cause of the economic crisis; 26.3 percent cited corruption and 20.7 percent foreign sanctions as the main cause.
Perhaps the most important finding of the May survey is that 85.6 percent of respondents said they were proud to be Iranian, a figure that has even increased compared with previous years. This figure should not be relegated to the margins of political analysis. It should, in fact, be at the center of the analysis. A society that is dissatisfied with its economic situation, angry about inefficiency, has limited trust in political institutions and even includes segments calling for structural change, yet still says firmly, “I am proud to be Iranian,” is sending a clear message: dissatisfaction with a political system does not necessarily mean distancing oneself from Iran. This may be Iran’s most important strategic asset under current circumstances.
The war has further highlighted this reality. Various data show that under conditions of external threat, the sense of national belonging and willingness to defend the country increase. The same survey found that 54.3 percent of respondents said they would fully support defending the country in the event of another attack. People can defend Iran against a foreign attack while simultaneously criticizing government policies. They can oppose separatism while disagreeing with the government’s cultural, economic or political policies. They can be patriotic without endorsing every decision made by the authorities.
The meaning of these two sets of figures is that the one-sided portrayal suggesting that Iranian society alone suffers from a government-society divide does not accurately reflect reality. Polls by reputable institutions such as Reuters and Ipsos have shown that American society is deeply affected by such a divide. Average public trust in major US institutions has fallen to 27 percent, while the president’s approval rating stands at 33 percent. Around two-thirds of Americans have said that US democracy is at risk of failing, while 77 percent expect political violence to increase over the next five years.
The purpose of these comparisons is not to overlook Iran’s problems. It cannot be denied that the government-society divide is one of the challenges facing Iran’s political system today. War, inefficiency and other factors have contributed to this problem, and there is undoubtedly a need to address it. The more important point, however, is that mainstream global media seek to present an image of a stable and satisfied American society while portraying Iranians as unstable, dissatisfied and angry. This is an unjustified and politicized media tactic that distorts the reality on the ground, and it should be approached with close scrutiny.
According to admissions from some major US polling organizations, Washington today has a president with an approval rating of 33 percent, meaning that two-thirds of Americans do not have a favorable view of him. The public also has serious doubts about the war into which the government has entered. Iranian audiences, while not giving up their demands to address domestic problems, should also pay attention to the wave of social dissatisfaction created in the United States by Trump’s irrational policies.