美国国家公共电台 NPR--Iran turns to Russia for support and strategic alliance, Middle East expert says

Iran turns to Russia for support and strategic alliance, Middle East expert says

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, about the history of Iran and Russia cooperating in conflicts.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Now, what steps might the U.S. take against Iran? And would those actions push Tehran closer to Moscow? The State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, says any arms deal between Russia and Iran violates a U.N. resolution that bars Iran from buying and selling weapons.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VEDANT PATEL: We will continue to take practical, aggressive steps to make these weapons sales harder, including sanctions, export control actions against any entities² involved.

FADEL: Joining us to talk about the implications is Joshua Landis. He is the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Good morning, Joshua. Thanks for being here.

JOSHUA LANDIS: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So Russia and Iran cooperating militarily, that's not new, right? We saw it in Syria. Is this moment different?

LANDIS: It is partly different. But the alliance between Iran and Russia really started in the Syrian War over 10 years ago. Both were trying to shore up President Bashar al-Assad against the United States, who was trying to bring him down. And this created a space for Russia in the Middle East to side with Iran in multiple different battlegrounds.

FADEL: So what are the larger ramifications³ here of this military cooperation between Russia and Iran for the U.S. and the West?

LANDIS: Well, it's clear that it's another state that's going to supply these arms, which we've seen have also - have had an important impact on the fighting and have allowed Russia to destroy a certain percentage of the electric generation in Ukraine. So it makes the war more difficult. We've seen this already with President Biden's demand from the Saudis that they increase oil supplies in order to try to bring down inflation and help President Biden. And the Saudis have not given that. In fact, they've reduced supply...

FADEL: Right.

LANDIS: ...Which is going to raise prices. So it shows that the entire world is not on board with the United States.

FADEL: Is the threat of more sanctions against Iran - the EU is already preparing sanctions. The U.S. is promising⁴ aggressive steps. Is that strategy going to pull Iran back from getting involved? Or is it going to push them closer to...

LANDIS: Well, I fear it will push them closer, you know? One of the main reasons that Iran is doing this is because it's already been driven into a corner. The failure to reestablish the Iran nuclear deal that President Trump⁶ broke off in 2018, it leaves Iran with very few choices. Its economy is suffering. And that's one of the reasons why this latest uprising has begun in Iran. And Iran has nobody else to trade with. So it has decided⁷ that it must turn to Russia for support and strategic alignment⁸.

FADEL: But will this not make the situation worse? I mean, when you think about what's happening domestically in Iran - these mass protests, struggling to recover economically under sanctions, the threat of more sanctions - I mean, why take the risk of making it even worse and angering the West more?

LANDIS: Because Iran is hoping that the world will be realigned and that it will establish greater trade with Russia and China. It's just signed a memo⁹ of understanding with Russia that's supposed to increase trade to $40 billion from only $4 billion. We'll see if that's possible. But it's done something similar with China. It's building a important rail link to the Central Asian states, as well as with Russia, to try to improve trade. So Iran has given up on the Iran deal. The West no longer can lure⁵ it into not doing these things in the hopes that somehow the West is going to help Iran's economy. It's quite clear that President Biden has a very tough road ahead if he wanted to restart the Iran deal.

FADEL: So really, the end of the Iran nuclear deal. Even European members who are still part of that deal are saying Iran breached¹⁰ it by selling weapons to Russia.

LANDIS: Yes. This is - you know, there are many sanctions on. And I guess America can impose further sanctions. It'll be very hard to do it through the U.N. because, of course, Russia and China are on the side of the U.N. So I don't see many ways that the United States can pressure Iran further without doing something more drastic and perhaps military.

FADEL: Joshua Landis, the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, thank you so much for your time.

LANDIS: A pleasure.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

3 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

5 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

9 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

10 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。