VOA慢速英语--伊朗违背核协议承诺,欧洲感到压力

Europe Feels Pressure as Iran Breaks Nuclear Deal Promise

Efforts by European nations to find ways for businesses to work around United States sanctions on Iran are unlikely to succeed.

Diplomats² and experts say those efforts are likely to face difficulties after the Iranian government’s decision to violate its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Monday that Iran breached⁴ the agreed limit on its supply of low-enriched uranium.

The experts say the financial mechanism⁵, developed by European nations that signed the deal, will not provide Iran with enough to make up for the loss of trade and oil sales.

U.S. President Donald Trump⁶ withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal last year. He said that the deal did little to prevent Iran from making a nuclear weapon. He also noted⁷ that the country continued to support conflicts in the Middle East.

US sanctions are difficult to get around

The U.S. sanctions prevent Iran from using Western financial markets. Some European nations have hoped to develop a system to help Iran avoid measures barring it from international trade.

France, Germany, and Britain developed the mechanism to trade with Iran legally. All three countries signed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. China and Russia also signed the agreement.

The trading system is known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, or INSTEX. It is designed to permit countries to trade with Iran through what is described as a barter⁸ system. Sales are carried out without the use of United States dollars, so as to avoid the U.S. financial system.

However, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed this week that Iran had knowingly enriched more than 300 kilograms of uranium. That is the limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iranian officials announced last month that they would enrich more uranium than the amount permitted under the agreement. The officials also warned that they plan to enrich uranium to a higher level by July 7. They said, however, that level is still below the 90-percent purity needed for uranium to be used as fuel for a weapon.

The U.S. government has denounced Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Trump recently tweeted that Iran is “playing with fire.” The administration has said it would “never allow” Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

Europe’s answer not clear

Many European companies were concerned about doing business with Iran before the country breached its nuclear limit.

Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, noted last Friday that, “if you look at trading volumes, the EU (European Union) does more trade with Kazakhstan than it does with Iran.” He added that Europe does not have much demand for Iranian products.

INSTEX’s designers say it was meant for trade in basic goods, like food, medicine and humanitarian⁹ aid. But Iran has said that is not enough. It wants to use INSTEX to sell oil.

Henry Rome is with the Eurasia Group, a research organization. He described INSTEX this way: “It’s basically a barter system. They [the Iranians] had high expectations that it could handle such things as oil.”

Iran is suspected of secretly selling crude oil to China. But most of the money it earns from oil sales has disappeared because of the U.S. sanctions.

For many companies, the risk of facing sanctions because of trade with Iran outweighs¹⁰ any gain from trading with Iran. Also, most of Iran’s top businesses are tied to government-linked groups, like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps¹¹. The U.S. measures target that group specifically.

Now, some European countries find themselves in a difficult position. Should they take actions designed to punish Iran or try to save the 2015 nuclear deal?

One British diplomat¹ said that Iran is trying to “copy North Korean brinksmanship.” Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said in a statement Monday that he is “deeply worried” about Iran’s move. He added that the British government remains¹² committed to the deal.

However, Britain has started to voice serious concerns. That is especially the case after mining incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s shooting down of a U.S. drone aircraft in the same area.

I’m Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

sanction –n. measure put in place to cause a country to obey international law, usually by limiting or banning trade

breach³ –v. a failure to do what is required by a law or agreement

barter –v. to exchange goods for other goods rather than money

volumes –n. amounts

brinksmanship –n. the method of permitting a situation to become extremely dangerous in order to get a desired result=

1 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

2 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》

3 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

4 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。

5 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

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 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 barter   

n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• They have arranged food imports on a barter basis.他们以易货贸易的方式安排食品进口。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

11 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。