2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Says Major Powers to Discuss Iran Sanction

By David Gollust
Washington
13 September 2006

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday foreign ministers of major world powers will meet in New York as early as next week to discuss sanctions against Iran. U.S. officials believe Iran has been trying to string out diplomatic contacts on the issue in an effort to avoid sanctions.

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Secretary Rice says the path to negotiations² remains³ open to Iran despite its defiance⁴ of a U.N. resolution that gave it until the end of last month to end uranium enrichment and return to negotiations.

But she is also making clear that the window of opportunity is narrowing, and that the United States intends to press for sanctions at a meeting of the five Permanent U.N. Security Council member countries and Germany as early as next week in New York. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (left) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Rice disclosed plans for the ministerial-level meeting at a talk with reporters here late Wednesday with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Leaders from around the world will be at the U.N. for the new General Assembly session, and the Secretary of State said it will afford an opportunity to advance discussion of a sanctions resolution begun last week in Berlin by senior diplomats⁵ of the six powers. "We have to consult about it. We have to decide what the text will look like. There was a meeting of the political directors. There will be a meeting with the (foreign) ministers. We are working on that track. If the Iranians still wish to suspend, and begin negotiations, obviously that would be good thing. But given that they cancelled the meeting, I don't really know that that option is available," she said.

The Secretary's reference was to a meeting between European Union chief diplomat¹ Javier Solana and Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larajani planned for Thursday but which was cancelled.

Solana and the Iranian envoy⁶ have had a series of meetings since the U.N. Security Council deadline on the Iranian nuclear program expired August 31st.

News reports quoting diplomats in recent days have floated the idea that Iran might be willing to suspend uranium enrichment for two months and engage in talks with the world powers provided they shelved sanctions moves at the U.N.

But officials here say there has been no formal Iranian proposal conveyed in the European talks. And State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack accused Iran earlier Wednesday of trying to string out the diplomatic contacts to avoid punitive⁷ action at the U.N..

"We've seen this game before from the Iranians. They want to stretch things out. They want to stretch it out. They want to say well, we'll have a meeting on Thursday. No, let's have a meeting next Tuesday. And it keeps going on and on and on. And at some point, the world has to say look: we've given you the opportunity here and it's time to act. It's time to act through the Security Council, and it's time to impose sanctions on Iran," he said.

The United States, which believes Iran has a covert⁸ nuclear weapons program, envisages⁹ graduated sanctions beginning with relatively¹⁰ mild penalties. But the process will not be easy, given reluctance¹¹ over sanctions being expressed by Russia and China, and more recently by some U.S. European allies.

Secretary Rice said the major powers agreed as early as last June to pursue sanctions as part of a joint¹² strategy, and in her words: we now have to deliver as an international community.

Israeli Foreign Minister Livni lamented¹³ what she termed international hesitation¹⁴ about Iran. She said recent events in Lebanon, where Israel battled Iranian-armed Hezbollah guerrillas, made it more clear that the world, in her words, cannot afford a nuclear-armed Iran.

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 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。

3 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。

4 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

5 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》

6 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

7 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

8 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

9 envisages   

想像，设想( envisage的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The board envisages that there will be a high profit. 董事会预期将会获得高额利润。
• The paper reviews and envisages the development trend of carbon electrode. 本文对炭电极的发展方向做了回顾与展望。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

13 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。