VOA常速英语2007年-Bush: Iran Must Explain Hidden Nuclear Weapons

By Scott Stearns
White House
11 December 2007

President Bush says Iran must explain why it hid a past nuclear weapons program from United Nations inspectors¹. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Iran says it is enriching uranium only for a peaceful civilian² program to generate electricity.

President Bush is trying to keep international pressure on Iran after last week's National Intelligence Estimate found that Tehran stopped its nuclear weapons program four years ago.

Mr. Bush says the U.S. intelligence report proves that Iran was lying to the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency.

"Iran must explain to the world why they had a program. Iran has an obligation to explain to the IAEA why they hid this program from them," he said. "Iran is dangerous, and they will be even more dangerous if they learn how to enrich uranium."

The president spoke³ following a meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano during which the two men discussed the nuclear standoff.

Iran's Fars news agency says Tehran has begun a new round of talks with U.N. experts who are seeking information on past nuclear activities.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the latest U.S. intelligence report is a step forward. He told reporters if further such steps are taken, the way will be open for resolving regional and bilateral⁴ issues

White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino called this "fanciful thinking."

"It's a very opaque⁵ society in Iran," she said. "The president asked for more information from our intelligence community. He got more information. And it confirmed what he thought to be true, which is that Iran was a threat, is a threat, and will certainly continue to be a threat if we don't stop them from obtaining that capability⁶ to have a nuclear weapon."

The Bush administration is pushing for another round of U.N. sanctions against Iran. Officials from the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany are to discuss the draft of a new sanctions resolution Tuesday.

President Ahmadinejad says there is no legal basis for new sanctions against Iran.

1 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

5 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

6 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。