VOA标准英语2008年-US Charges 16 for Illegal Shipments to Iran

U.S. prosecutors¹ are charging eight foreigners and eight overseas businesses for helping² to ship thousands of micro chips and other sensitive parts to Iran, in violation³ of U.S. trade bans. Officials say similar chips were found in improvised⁴ explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan. VOA's Brian Wagner has this report from Miami.

Prosecutors in Miami say the 16 defendants⁵ operated as middle men between buyers in Iran and suppliers or manufacturers of the parts inside the United States. They are accused of lying to suppliers to arrange for shipment of the parts to the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Britain, Germany and Singapore, where they were then sent to Iran.

U.S. Attorney in Miami Alex Acosta said the illegal shipments included global positioning systems, a field communicator as well as thousands of micro-controller chips.

"Improvised explosive devices found by our allies in Iraq have the exact same chip with the exact same part number that the defendants are charged with illegally exporting," he said. "According to our indictment⁶, they exported 12,000 of those chips."

Officials say the products are dual-use goods that can be used for civilian⁷ purposes as well as military ones, and their export is restricted especially to hostile nations and groups.

As a result of the probe, the Treasury⁸ Department named six Iranian military firms to a list of organizations linked to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Officials say Iran often seeks to conceal⁹ its ties to foreign businesses in an effort to advance military programs in spite of international restrictions¹⁰.

Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control says the Treasury listing aims to shut off foreign funding and trade with the firms.

"The six companies fall under Iran's military industrial complex. So they are in some ways act as companies, but they are certainly state-owned and controlled," he said.

At the same time, the Commerce Department announced sanctions on 76 other foreign entities¹¹ linked to the investigation¹², for engaging in banned trade deals contrary to U.S. national security.

Under Secretary of Commerce Mario Mancuso said the restrictions on sensitive exports to Iran are crucial to discouraging the nation's weapons programs.

"Iran is a malign¹³ and lethal¹⁴ influence in the region. It is fastidious in its willingness and ability to cause mischief¹⁵ in the region and around the world. And it is a challenge we take very seriously," he said.

So far no arrests have been made in the case. Officials say they are seeking extradition¹⁶ of the eight individuals, many of whom are Iranian nationals operating in other countries, such as Germany, Malaysia or Dubai. If convicted, the defendants could face a maximum of 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines.

1 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 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。

4 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

5 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

6 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

7 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。

8 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

9 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

14 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

15 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

16 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。