Though it would be natural to expect that pressure from sanctions would make Iranians wary of the military risks their government is taking, it’s not. Asked in August 2019 about incidents “concerning…oil tankers and smaller ships, involving Iran, Britain and the Gulf states,” only 19% said “Iran should primarily be careful to make sure these incidents do not multiply and turn into a bigger conflict.” Instead, 77% said that “whenever there is evidence of a violation of Iranian waters [or] air space…Iran should punish the perpetrators to make such incidents less likely in the future.” On Iran’s troops in Syria, three in five (61%) approve of keeping them in place, with 32% opposed — no different from in 2016, when the United States was still in the JCPOA.