伊朗发射火箭,特朗普寻求核武交易

Iran Launches Rocket, Trump¹ Seeks to Test Nuke Deal

Iran announced Thursday that it had successfully launched a rocket carrying a satellite into space.

State television in Iran claimed the “Simorgh” rocket can carry a 250- kilogram satellite as far as 500 kilometers above Earth. The report did not say what the rocket was carrying into space.

In the Farsi language, “Simorgh” means “phoenix.”

The rocket launch comes after the United States moved earlier this month to increase economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program.

Thursday’s launch did not violate the 2015 nuclear agreement signed by Iran, the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and the European Union. In the agreement, Iran agreed to pull back its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

The United States has expressed concern, however, that the rocket technology Iran is developing could possibly be changed and used as long-range missiles.

Earlier this week, Iran announced it would open a new facility to produce missiles able to target aircraft as well as cruise missiles.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press (AP) reported Thursday that President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing for inspections³ of Iranian military areas. Senior U.S. officials said the inspections of the suspicious military areas will test the nuclear deal.

Trump has long criticized the current nuclear deal. Trump aides have said there are serious problems with the deal. If the problems are not fixed⁴ quickly, it is likely that Trump will pull out.

Officials said the U.S. is talking with European leaders to work on a follow-up agreement that would stop Iran from re-starting nuclear development once the deal expires in about 10 years. The officials were not named because they did not have approval to speak publically.

The deal has a complex process for inspecting Iran’s military areas. There are many chances for Iran to delay the process.

It is likely that Iran would resist the Trump administration’s inspection² requests. If Iran says no to the inspections, then Trump may say that Iran is breaking the deal. That would then place the blame on Iran if the deal collapses⁵.

If Iran agrees to the inspections, it would help those in the administration who support staying with the deal.

Earlier this month Trump wanted to declare that Iran was in violation⁶ of the agreement.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) checked for violations⁷. It found there were only small problems.

The U.S. agreed to wait for another three months before acting⁸.

In three months there will be another deadline to check if Iran is violating the deal. This week, Trump told The Wall Street Journal he expects to say Iran is not complying.

“If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago,” Trump said.

American businesses hope the deal survives so they can follow economic opportunities in Iran. The aviation industry, for example, recently signed billions of dollars of contracts to sell passenger planes to Iranian airlines.

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

ballistic missile – n. a weapon that is shot through the sky over a great distance and then falls to the ground and explodes

facility – n. something (such as a building or large piece of equipment) that is built for a specific purpose

cruise missile – n. a large military weapon that flies close to the ground and is directed to a specific place to explode

inspection – n. the act of looking at something closely in order to learn more about it, to find problems, etc. : the act of inspecting something

suspicious – adj. causing a feeling that something is wrong or that someone is behaving wrongly : causing suspicion

comply – v. to do what you have been asked or ordered to do

sanction – n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country, etc. — usually plural

1 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。

2 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

3 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

6 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。

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。