2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Ready for Iran Dialogue Within Nuclear Tal

By David Gollust
Washington
09 December 2006

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday she is ready for wide-ranging dialogue with her Iranian counterpart provided Iran halts uranium enrichment and returns to negotiations¹ on its nuclear program. Rice was responding to calls this week by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group for the United States to engage Iran and Syria to help stabilize² Iraq. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left) and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

The Secretary's news conference with German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier was her first opportunity to respond publicly to the Iraq report.

While acknowledging the seriousness of the situation in Iraq, she defended the Bush administration's handling of the war and broader Middle East policy and rejected the notion it has not been open to dialogue with Tehran and Damascus.

Rice said if Iran and Syria were interested in seeing a stable Iraq they would act accordingly. But she said both countries have chosen, as she put it, to be on the side of the divide that is fueling extremism, not moderation. She said neither should expect compensation for changing that behavior.

As to talking to Iran, she said the overriding³ problem is Tehran's pursuit of nuclear weapons but said if it met the fundamental condition for renewing dialogue with the world community on that issue, the United States is prepared for far-reaching talks. "We have offered to Iran to change 27 years of American policy and to indeed sit across the table from Iran to discuss their nuclear issue and anything else they would like to discuss, should they simply verifiably suspend their enrichment activities so that they can't keep improving those enrichment capabilities⁴ while we talk. That's the reason for the suspension. So, I'll repeat what I've said many times. I will meet by Iranian counterpart, under those conditions, any place, anytime, anywhere," she said.

Rice seemed to readily embrace the Iraq study commission's recommendation for an intensified⁵ U.S. effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to reduce broader Middle East tensions, and said she thinks there is now an opening to move the process forward.

The Secretary, who aides say is likely to undertake a Middle East peace mission early in the new year, said the commitment of the Bush administration to solve the dispute is very deep and strong and suggested President Bush has not gotten due credit for becoming in 2002 the first U.S. leader to advocate a two-state solution.

"It is now the centerpiece, and the essence, of the policies of both Israel and the moderate Palestinians that that is the formula that should resolve this conflict. It's very easy to lose sight of the fact that that is a radical⁶ change in the system, a radical change in peoples' views. We now say very easily the establishment of a Palestinian state. But when the President of the United States said it, no American President had ever dared say it as a matter of policy," she said.

For his part, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, who just completed a Middle trip, expressed agreement with Rice that conditions for Middle East peacemaking have taken a positive turn, propelled by the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire in Gaza. He is heard through an interpreter:

"Let's not understate the progress we've achieved in the core conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. We have indeed been able to perceive encouraging developments of late. I myself had the opportunity to talk to the parties in the region a couple of days ago, and I took home with me the very sincere impression that it is no longer the question of stabilizing⁷ the cease-fire that is at stake now, but that the two partners have taken this one step further. Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) and Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert seem to have an interest in taking further steps," he said.

Rice said she and Steinmeier also discussed Lebanon and agreed that efforts to destabilize the elected government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, by domestic extremists and outside forces including Syria and Iran, simply cannot be tolerated.

1 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。

2 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

3 overriding   

a.最主要的

参考例句：

• Development is of overriding importance. 发展是硬道理
• My overriding concern is to raise the standards of state education. 我最关心的是提高国民教育水平。

4 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

7 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句