VOA慢速英语--阿拉伯结束与伊朗的外交关系

AS IT IS 2016-01-05 Saudi Arabia Ends Diplomatic Ties With Iran 阿拉伯结束与伊朗的外交关系

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Sudan have cut off diplomatic relations with Iran.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia executed a well-known Shi’ite Muslim leader. The cleric had publicly criticized the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

In response, angry demonstrators in Tehran attacked the Saudi embassy Saturday.

The demonstrators set fire in the building, destroyed furniture and threw papers off the roof. At least 40 protesters were arrested.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the attack “totally unjustifiable,” but he criticized Saudi Arabia for executing the cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Saudi Arabia executed 46 other prisoners on the same day as Nimr. It was the largest number of executions in one day in Saudi Arabia in 30 years.

Many countries protested the executions. Some critics threatened the Saudi royal family. Large protests have taken place since Saturday in many countries, including Bahrain, where police used tear gas on the protestors.

Demonstrations² also took place in India and at the Saudi embassy in London.

Late Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir ordered all Iranian diplomats³ to leave Saudi Arabia. He said “the continued attacks on diplomatic missions (are) a flagrant violation⁴ of all international treaties.”

He said Saudi Arabia -- a Sunni-majority country -- would not let Shi’ite-led Iran weaken the security of Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. Sunnis and Shi’ites are Muslim groups.

“We want to make it very clear that there is no space in the community of nations for a country that condones⁶ terrorism, that supports terrorism and that engages in terrorism,” he said.

Late Sunday, the Iranian state news agency reported comments from Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister. It said he criticized Saudi Arabia’s decision to end diplomatic relations with his country. He said Saudi leaders were trying to move attention away from executing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

On Monday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry⁷ spokesman said Iran was helping⁸ its diplomats leave Saudi Arabia. But he said none had left the country yet. He criticized Saudi Arabia for ending diplomatic relations with his country. He said Saudi Arabia is causing tension in the Middle East.

On Monday, Bahrain also ended diplomatic relations with Iran. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are close allies. The state news service BNA reported Bahrain’s government had ordered Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours. 

Sudan also ended diplomatic relations with Iran on Monday. And the United Arab Emirates said it was ordering some Iranian diplomats to leave the country.

Sudan called the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran “barbaric.” The UAE criticized what it called Iran’s “continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf⁹ and Arab states, which has reached unprecedented¹⁰ levels.”

Sunday, Iranian state television reported that Iran's Supreme¹¹ Leader -- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- said Nimr did not urge “people into armed action,” and did not plot against the Saudi government. He said “the only thing he did was utter public criticism rising from his religious zeal¹².”

In a statement on Sunday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Nimr’s execution would lead to the “downfall” of Saudi Arabia's monarchy¹⁴. It called the execution a “medieval act of savagery¹⁵.”

Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called the execution an "injustice¹⁶" and an act of "aggression¹⁷.”

Nimr was found guilty of plotting against the state, and other charges, in 2014. He was one of the leaders of Shi’ite protests in eastern Saudi Arabia in 2011.

Human rights groups have for many years criticized Islamic courts in Saudi Arabia for sentencing people to death even for non-violent crimes. The groups say trials in Saudi Arabia are secretive and unfair.

?U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply dismayed” by the execution of Nimr and called for “calm and restraint in reaction” to the killings¹⁸.  

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said the Obama administration “will continue to urge leaders across the region to take affirmative steps to calm tensions.” It also said the administration believes “diplomatic engagement and direct conversations remain essential” to ending the unrest.

The State Department said the execution of Nimr would add to the tensions between religious groups in the Middle East.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been competing for leadership of Muslims since the 1979 revolution in Iran. Conservative Shi-ite Muslim religious leaders took power during that revolution.

Words in This Story

unjustifiable – adj. not able to be defended, excused or accepted; not justifiable¹

royal – adj. of or relating to a king or queen

tear gas – n. a gas that makes people unable to see by causing their eyes to be filled with tears and that is used especially by the police or military to separate large groups of people

mission – n. a place or building where diplomatic work is done; smaller than an embassy

flagrant – adj. very bad; too bad to be ignored

condone⁵ – v. to forgive or approve (something that is considered wrong); to allow (something that is considered wrong) to continue

barbaric – adj. very cruel

unprecedented – adj. not done or experienced before

befall – v. to happen to

utter – v. to say something

zeal – n. a strong feeling of interest and enthusiasm that makes someone very eager or determined¹⁹ to do something

downfall – n. a sudden loss of power, happiness, success, etc

monarchy – n. a form of government in which a country is ruled by a monarch¹³

medieval – adj. informal or figurative very old; too old to be useful or acceptable; of or relating to the Middle Ages; of or relating to the period of European history from about A.D. 500 to about 1500

savagery – n. a cruel or violent act or action

dismayed – n. a strong feeling of being worried, disappointed or upset

region – n. a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way

affirmative – adj. saying or showing that the answer is “yes” rather than “no”

engagement – n. the act or state of being involved with something; involvement

essential – adj. extremely important and necessary

1 justifiable   

adj.有理由的，无可非议的

参考例句：

• What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
• Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

5 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

6 condones   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A morality that condones such bloodshed is totally unacceptalbe to me. 宽恕这种杀戮的道德是我完全不能接受的。 来自辞典例句
• When government condones evil, he insists, "the true place for a just man is a prison." 他坚持认为，当政府宽容罪恶时，“正直人的真正去处是监狱”。 来自哲学部分

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

13 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

14 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

15 savagery   

n.野性

参考例句：

• The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
• They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。

16 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

17 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

18 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

19 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。