New polling shows Muslims in the UK tend to be more positive to Iran and hostile to the US and Israel.
Protesters march in London earlier this month (Image: Getty)
British Muslims are more likely to be warmer to Iran than the general public, according to a new report. Polling commissioned by the Policy Exchange think tank found around two in five Muslims in the UK – 39% – have a favourable view of Tehran, compared to just 8% for the wider population.
Half of British Muslims said the joint US–Israel strikes against Iran are “definitively wrong”, with the figure down to 17% for the general population. They are also more hostile to America and Israel with net favourability ratings of minus 41 and minus 52 respectively, compared to minus 16 and minus 22 among the wider public.
Meanwhile, they are less hostile to China and Russia with net ratings of 22 and 2 for the two countries, according to the polling commissioned by the Policy Exchange think tank.
Among the general population Beijing and Moscow are in negative territory with net scores of minus 22 and minus 52 respectively.
Dr Rakib Ehsan, author of the new Policy Exchange report Worlds Apart: British Muslim Attitudes on the Iran Conflict, said: “The data shows that modern Britain is anything but on the same page in terms of how it views the Iran conflict and the wider international system.
“As well as being notably more hostile towards the US and Israel, British Muslims hold much warmer feelings towards Iran than the wider public do.
“Part of their overarching anti-Americanism is their dramatically less negative views on China and Russia, revealing a broader scepticism of Western geopolitics.
“The relatively youthful British Muslim population is also different to the wider public in how they get their news and information on the Iran conflict, relying more than the general population on ‘non-legacy’ sources in the social-media sphere such as Instagram and TikTok.”
The polling also found that 45% of British Muslims said Iran was not a significant threat before the war erupted, compared to 14% of the general population.
JL Partners polled 2,223 adults and 1,031 Muslims in the UK from March 2-13.