VOA标准英语2009年-Iran to Respond to UN Nuclear Deal by Thur

By Edward Yeranian
Cairo
28 October 2009

 
Iranian technicians work at a facility near Isfahan, south of Tehran, that produces uranium fuel for a heavy-water nuclear reactor¹ (File)
Iran's official Arabic-language al Alam TV is reporting Iran's parliament will discuss the United Nations draft nuclear deal proposed by the United States, France and Russia, giving a formal reply to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday. 

The Iranian Student News Agency reported earlier the head of the parliament's national security committee, Alaedin Borujurdi, would put the U.N. draft nuclear deal between Tehran and the West to a vote of his committee after discussing its pros² and cons³.

The IAEA draft deal calls for Iran to ship its stockpile of low-grade enriched uranium to Russia to be transformed into more highly enriched uranium for use in Tehran's medical research reactor.

 
Speaker Ali Larijani, Iran's former nuclear negotiator (file photo)
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, who was once Tehran's top nuclear negotiator, decried⁴ the draft deal Saturday, accusing the West of "trying to cheat and impose [its] will on us," as he put it.Several Iranian politicians close to Supreme⁵ Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have demanded Tehran ship only part of its enriched-uranium stockpile abroad until some of the batch⁶ shipped to Russia was returned in more highly enriched form.
 
Meir Javedanfar of the MEEPAS Center in Tel Aviv says the Iranian critics of the nuclear deal with the West are suspicious of the terms of the agreement.

"The biggest question that the Iranian decision-makers-those that are against this move-are asking is this, 'How do we know that the Americans and the West are basically going to let the Russians live up to their promise of giving the uranium back? How do we know that they are not going to keep it all?" He asked.

The United States and allies France and Russia have supported the IAEA draft deal with Iran as a means to alleviate⁷ concerns that Tehran is using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons covertly⁸.

The Iranian government strenuously⁹ insists its nuclear program is peaceful and its supplies of enriched uranium will be used to produce electricity for civilian¹⁰ nuclear power plants it is building.

Meir Javedanfar says many, including himself, suspect Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei harbors the aspiration¹¹ to build atomic weapons.

"There is another reason [why Iran is against the deal], which of course they do not say, and it is understood by a number of people, including myself, that Iran-Ayatollah Khamenei-wants the bomb," said Javedanfar of Tel Aviv's MEEPAS Center. "I mean, he hands over 80 percent of his low-enriched uranium: that means for the next 13 months he will not be able to go down that path, meaning that he will lose a lot of leverage¹² with the West," he added.

The Iranian press reported earlier this week that Tehran was ready to accept the general framework of the U.N. draft deal, but was insisting on some "important changes."

1 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。

2 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 cons   

n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

7 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

8 covertly   

adv.偷偷摸摸地

参考例句：

• Naval organizations were covertly incorporated into civil ministries. 各种海军组织秘密地混合在各民政机关之中。 来自辞典例句
• Modern terrorism is noteworthy today in that it is being done covertly. 现代的恐怖活动在今天是值得注意的，由于它是秘密进行的。 来自互联网

9 strenuously   

adv.奋发地，费力地

参考例句：

• The company has strenuously defended its decision to reduce the workforce. 公司竭力为其裁员的决定辩护。
• She denied the accusation with some warmth, ie strenuously, forcefully. 她有些激动，竭力否认这一指责。

10 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。

11 aspiration   

n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出

参考例句：

• Man's aspiration should be as lofty as the stars.人的志气应当象天上的星星那么高。
• Young Addison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.年幼的爱迪生渴望成为一名发明家。

12 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。