VOA标准英语2010年-Iranian Opposition: 15 Publications Th

Iranian opposition¹ websites are reporting Iran has threatened to shut down 15 more newspapers and periodicals.  The warning further intensifies² pressure on the already limited number of papers allowed to publish.

Opposition websites, including Rah e Sabz and Ayande News say the government's press censorship arm, the Ministry³ of Islamic Guidance, has warned 15 daily and weekly periodicals not to publish articles critical of the government or its ministers.

Those publications include daily papers, as well as economic and cultural publications, such as Emrouz, Bahar, Towse'e, Rouzan, Jahan-e Eqtesad, Ettelaat, Asrar, Jaha-e San'at, Mardomslari, Arman-e Ravabet-e Omumi, Jomhouri, Poul, Farhikhtegan, and Afarinesh.

Ali Nourizadeh of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London says the Iranian government has intensified⁴ its scrutiny⁵ of the press.

"The deputy minister of Islamic Guidance said he has called upon several pro-government university professors and he asked them to read all newspapers daily, word by word and to report to him whether they have crossed the red line or not.  So, any kind of criticism of Ahmedinejad, his government, his ministers, his deputy ministers would be considered hostile," he said.

Ayande News says one delicate subject is the ongoing⁶ controversy⁷ around President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Meshaie, who is also the father of his son-in-law.

Opposition websites reported recently Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and other hardline parliament members are trying to force President Ahmedinejad to dump Rahim-Meshaie.  Last fall, Parliament voted against Rahim-Mashaie's nomination⁸ to be first vice-president.

Nourizadeh says publications have been told they will be given "warnings" for each infraction⁹ and will be "shut down" after several warnings.  He emphasizes the Iranian press is in bad shape due to ongoing censorship, newspaper closings, and arrests of journalists.

"Based on the official number of jailed journalists and writers, we have 76 of them in prison, and prison is hanging over the heads of more than 200 of them, and also we have journalists who are out of work-around 1200 of them are out of work-so the situation is the worst we ever faced during 31 years of Islamic Republic rule," he said.

Iran analyst¹⁰ Meir Javedanfar of the MEEPAS Center in Tel Aviv says Iranian censorship sometimes includes attacking newspaper offices and threatening journalists:

"During the last Gaza War there was a newspaper that had its offices evacuated¹¹ because it published an article that said both sides [Hamas and Israel] are to blame and because it also criticized Hamas.  The editors were threatened and the office had to close down and they went and torched the premises," said Javedanfar.

Following Iran's disputed June presidential election, pro-government Basiji militiamen ransacked¹² newspapers belonging to presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.  Journalists at both publications were also arrested.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 intensifies   

n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 infraction   

n.违反；违法

参考例句：

• He was criticized for his infraction of the discipline.他因违反纪律而受到了批评。
• Parking at the bus stop is illegal,Motorists committing this infraction are heavily fined.在公交站停车是违法的，触犯此条的司机将受重罚。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 ransacked   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• The house had been ransacked by burglars. 这房子遭到了盗贼的洗劫。
• The house had been ransacked of all that was worth anything. 屋子里所有值钱的东西都被抢去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》