为什么沙特阿拉伯认为伊朗是一个威胁?

AS IT IS 2016-02-07 Why Does Saudi Arabia Consider Iran a Threat? 为什么沙特阿拉伯认为伊朗是一个威胁?

Tensions continue to grow between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

As Iran rejoins the world community after reaching an agreement to limit its nuclear activities, some Saudis say Iran will threaten their country as it grows stronger.

Tensions increased between the countries last month when Saudi Arabia executed a well-known Shi’ite Muslim religious leader. After the execution, protesters attacked Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran, the Iranian capital. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates either cancelled or limited diplomatic relations with Iran.

The Iranian government condemned¹ the attack. It said more than 100 people had been arrested. But some Saudis still place responsibility for the attack on Iranian leaders.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have opposed each other for many years. Some experts say the tensions began more than 1,000 years ago, when the Muslim religion Islam split into Shi’ite and Sunni sects³.

Iran is the world’s most powerful Shi’ite-led nation. Saudi Arabia is the strongest Sunni-led country. There are also ethnic⁴ differences between the two countries: Saudis are Arab, and Iranians are Persian.

The countries support opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. Many Saudis say if the group supported by Iran wins in either country, it would threaten the kingdom militarily and psychologically.

Iran supports the Syrian government in its war against rebels and Islamic State militants⁶. Many experts say Iran supports Houthi rebels fighting Yemen’s government, which is supported by Saudi Arabia. Saudi experts say Iran’s actions in Syria and Yemen are an effort to create allies in the Middle East.

Jamal Khashoggi is a well-known Saudi journalist. He notes that there are Shi’ite militias⁷ in Iraq. And Egypt is growing closer to Russia -- which also supports Syria. He says Iran is trying to control the Middle East in the same way that Germany tried to control Europe in World War II.

Hamad al-Shehri is an adviser⁸ to the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs. He says Saudi Arabia believes its influence has declined over the past year as Iran has become more important.

As Iran negotiated an agreement to limit its nuclear program in exchange for an end to economic sanctions, it promised to be less militant⁵.

Al-Sheri said Saudis were unhappy that during the negotiations⁹, Western nations did not demand that Iran end its actions in Syria, Yemen and other conflicts in the area.

“The United States are our allies,” he said. “We wanted them to send a clear message to the Iranians to stop their interfering¹⁰ and to stop supporting (the) smuggling¹¹ (of) weapons to those militias.”

He says Saudis are less worried about Iran building a nuclear weapon than about the threat of a war in the Middle East.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on Saudi Arabia to end what he called its “hostile policies” toward Iran. Saudis say Iran must change its policies before relations can improve.

One Saudi expert says “good relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran…is good for the Muslim world. It is good for the Arab world.”

Words in This Story

psychological – adj. of or relating to the mind

sect² – n. a religious group that is a smaller part of a larger group and whose members all share similar beliefs; a religious or political group that is connected to a larger group but that has beliefs that differ greatly from those of the main group

smuggle¹² – v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly

1 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

2 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

3 sects   

n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had subdued the religious sects, cleaned up Saigon. 他压服了宗教派别，刷新了西贡的面貌。 来自辞典例句

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

7 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

11 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

12 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。