2006年VOA标准英语-Annan Stresses Urgency of Resolving Iran,

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
15 May 2006

The United Nations secretary-general says the global community must act quickly to peacefully end disputes over nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea. Kofi Annan made the comments after meeting South Korea's foreign minister to discuss a host of global issues.

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Kofi Annan  
  

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said nuclear weapons were at the top of his agenda Monday in his meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. The two met in Seoul on the second day of Annan's three-day visit to South Korea.

Annan says attempts to deal with nuclear weapons proliferation have become more complicated, because the international community's attention is now divided. Whereas North Korea was once the U.N.'s main focus, he says, now negotiators must also contend with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"And the international community has to take very urgent steps to deal with these issues before we have a cascade¹ of proliferation of nuclear weapons," Annan said.

Pyongyang says it has nuclear bombs and is making more, in violation² of its past pledges not to develop such weapons. Iran has a uranium enrichment program, which many nations, including the United States, fear may be used to make nuclear bombs, although Tehran says the program is for electricity generation.

Foreign Minister Ban says he reiterated³ to Annan South Korea's "zero-tolerance" policy toward nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula, and Seoul's commitment to resolve the situation through dialogue.

South Korea, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia have tried to persuade North Korea for four years to end its nuclear programs in exchange for economic, security, and diplomatic benefits.

Pyongyang says it will not return to talks until Washington ends sanctions imposed on North Korean enterprises that the U.S. believes engage in money laundering⁴ and counterfeiting⁵.

Annan says he believes counterfeiting and other matters should be dealt with after the nuclear issue has been resolved.

"In terms of priority the nuclear issue is by far the most important and should be given a separate category and priority as compared with human rights and other activities," he said.

Annan also called for continued dialogue to resolve a territorial⁶ dispute between South Korea and Japan. He gave what might be interpreted as a subtle nod to South Korea's contention⁷ that Japan has not done enough to honestly assess its imperial past in the 20th century.

"One has to be truthful⁸ to history," said Annan. "One has to capture truthfully what has happened in the past. Because the essence of history is not just to put on record what happens, but also to learn from it."

The South Korean foreign minister said he and Annan discussed the challenge of reforming the United Nations - and he reminded journalists that he is a candidate to assume the top U.N. job when Annan retires later this year.

Ban says the U.N. secretary-general must be someone who can build consensus⁹ on matters such as international security and public health. He says he believes his career of high-level diplomatic service has prepared him to carry out the top U.N. job capably.

1 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

2 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。

3 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

4 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 counterfeiting   

n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was sent to prison for counterfeiting five-dollar bills. 他因伪造5美元的钞票被捕入狱。 来自辞典例句
• National bureau released securities, certificates with security anti-counterfeiting paper technical standards. 国家质量技术监督局发布了证券、证件用安全性防伪纸张技术标准。 来自互联网

6 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

7 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

8 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

9 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？