In the past three years, Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that oversees Tehran's foreign military operations, has emerged as the most popular figure in Iranian politics, overtaking Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who greenlighted negotiations for the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Since January 2016, Suleimani--the subject of U.S. and U.N. sanctions--has seen his favorability rating at home increase from 72.7 percent of respondents to 81.6 percent in August 2019.

Contrast that with Rouhani, the first Iranian leader in decades to speak with a U.S. president, who took a telephone call from then-President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September 2013. Over the same period, Rouhani's favorability rating fell from 82.1 percent to 42.3 percent. His foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a U.S.-educated diplomat who led the Iranian nuclear negotiations, has also seen a dip in popularity, with his favorability rating sinking to 67 percent in August 2019 from 77.5 percent in January 2016.

The poll--which we'll be highlighting as our Document of the Week--underscores breathtaking changes in Iranian views toward the United States since Trump came into office in January 2017. Iranians now overwhelming view the United States (86 percent) unfavorably, favoring relations with countries such as China (58 percent), Germany (55 percent), Japan (70 percent), and Russia (57 percent). A whopping 66 percent of Iranian respondents believe "America is a dangerous country that seeks confrontation and control."