VOA标准英语2009年-US Says Patience With Iran on Nuclear Issu

By David Gollust
Washington
24 October 2009
 
A technician at Iran's Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility south of Tehran talks to visiting Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) (File)
The Obama administration signaled impatience¹ with Iran after the Tehran government ignored a Friday deadline to respond to a U.N.-brokered² deal aimed at easing concerns over its nuclear program. Iran has promised a reply by next week.

U.S. officials say they're willing to wait a few more days for an Iranian response to the nuclear proposals, but they say the Obama administration is looking for concrete action and does not have unlimited³ patience.

The comments from the State Department came after Iran failed to provide a final response Friday to a proposal brokered by the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency under which Tehran would ship abroad much of the low-enriched uranium it has produced in an enrichment effort that has drawn⁴ international concern.

Under the scheme, Russia would further enrich the uranium to the 20 per cent purity needed for use in a research reactor⁵ in Tehran which produces medical isotopes⁶ but is running out of fuel.

The fact that if Tehran surrendered most of the uranium it has been processing at its Natanz enrichment facility it would ease worries that its effort is weapons related.

Though Iran was to respond by Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran told it that while it was considering the plan in a favorable light it needed until the middle of next week to make a decision.

At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said the United States would obviously have liked to see an Iranian reply but is willing to give Tehran a few more days. "We're looking for concrete steps. And we take it as a positive sign that they've agreed in principle to take a couple of significant steps - the opening of the Qom facility, and then working out a procedure for having their low-enriched uranium re-processed in another country. At the same time, our patience is not limitless. I think we can stretch things out a few days, and that's really what we're talking about. But we're not going to wait forever," he said.

Kelly said preparations have been made for a visit Sunday by IAEA inspectors⁷ to the partially-underground enrichment facility near the city of Qom that Iran recently acknowledged it has been secretly building.

Kelly said the results of the inspection⁸ of the Qom plant, and Tehran's final decision on the uranium export plan, will figure heavily in big-power discussions on whether to seek further punitive⁹ action against Iran over its nuclear program.

Senior diplomats¹⁰ of the five permanent U.N. Security Council member countries and Germany - the P-Five-plus-One - are to meet at the end of this month in Geneva with Iran's nuclear negotiator to review Tehran's overall response to their offer of incentives¹¹ for it to curb¹² enrichment and return to negotiations¹³.

Officials have said the plan for Iran to export uranium for processing abroad under safeguards for its medical reactor could be a model for a broader deal to resolve concerns that its nominally-peaceful program is weapons-related.

The other parties to the medical reactor plan, Russia, France and the United States, told the International Atomic Energy Agency Friday they had accepted the proposal.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the signals about the Iranian position on the deal are not so positive and that could negatively affect the upcoming P5+1 meeting in Geneva.

 

1 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

2 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

3 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

6 isotopes   

n.同位素；同位素( isotope的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
• Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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》

8 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

9 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。

10 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》

11 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

12 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

13 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。