VOA标准英语2010年-Iran Announces Test-Firing of New Qiam

This photo released on 20 Aug 2010, by the Iranian Defense¹ Ministry², claims to show the launch of the Qiam-1 liquid-fueled missile by Iranian armed forces, at an undisclosed location

Iran's defense minister Ahmad Vahidi is saying Friday that Tehran has test-fired a new surface-to-surface missile called the Qiam-1. The announcement comes amid a flurry of alleged³ new military developments in recent days, as Iran prepares to launch its new Bushehr nuclear plant Saturday.

 

Iranian government TV showed the test-launch of a new surface-to-surface missile Friday, which its defense minister is calling a "new class" of missile with increased capabilities⁴.

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi explains that the new Qiam-1 missile has many improvements over its predecessors⁵.

He says that the Qiam-1 missile is a new class of solid-fuel missile and he claims that it is better than older missiles because it has a better guidance system and that it can be operated faster and under more varied⁶ circumstances. He also claims that the missile is capable of evading⁷ enemy interception⁸.

Iranian TV showed the missile launch sequence at least five times from different angles from what appeared to be a desert location. Defense Minister Vahidi did not indicate when the test-firing actually took place, nor the exact range of the new missile.

The test-firing was hyped by state media, along with news about Saturday's launch of Iran's new Russian-built Bushehr nuclear reactor⁹. Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton said recently that any possible Israeli attack on the plant would have to come before it was launched.

Iranian-born analyst¹⁰ Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington argues that it's impossible to verify that the Qiam-1 is a new class of missile, and that Iran's decision not to provide many details about it suggest the launch is part of a psychological war with the West.

"When you consider the fact that in terms of technical information that we have available to say that this is actually a new class of missile - this is newsworthy - we don't have that," he said. "Which means that this is really a political gesture, posturing¹¹ on the part of the Iranians, which they seem to believe is necessary, because overall they believe that they're involved in a big psychological war with the West and they're saying 'look, we can play a bit of this psychological war game, too.'"

Iranian defense industry officials have announced many alleged new weapons systems in recent days, amid great fanfare¹² on Iranian TV. These alleged developments include a new and faster speedboat, new locally-built aircraft engines, a new drone, and new shallow-water submarines.

Iranian military commanders went so far recently as to show pictures of what they were calling "mass grave plots" in which to bury U.S. soldiers, in the event of an attack on their country. Supreme¹³ Leader Ali Khamenei also said during a speech Wednesday night that an attack would be countered on a variety of levels, and in different places.

Alex Vatanka thinks that the Iranians are trying to scare the West, along with many of their smaller Gulf¹⁴ neighbors, so that they do not participate in a possible attack on Iran.

"The Iranians have been saying it for years: anybody who is complicit in an attack on Iran in the eyes of Tehran is good to be hit," he said. "They didn't mention states by name, but they pretty much said, if you are providing a base for any American aircraft to take off and come and bomb us, your base, be it in Qatar, be it in Oman, is good for us to hit back."

Qatar, which shares a large gas field with Iran, has long tried to balance its relations with both Iran and the U.S. to which it leases the large al Udeid airbase, outside the capital Doha. Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hamad bin¹⁵ Jasim bin Jabir al Thani, was shown Friday on Iranian TV meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

 

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 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。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

7 evading   

逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• Segmentation of a project is one means of evading NEPA. 把某一工程进行分割，是回避《国家环境政策法》的一种手段。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Too many companies, she says, are evading the issue. 她说太多公司都在回避这个问题。

8 interception   

n.拦截；截击；截取；截住，截断；窃听

参考例句：

• Aerial photography can provide valuable information on precipitation, evapotraspiration, interception, and runoff. 航空摄影可提供有关降水量、蒸发蒸腾量、入渗和径流量的有价值的资料。
• Light interception and distribution in hedgerow orchards with different alleyway widths is indicated in Fig. 56. 图56显示篱壁果园不同行间宽度的光能截取和分配的情况。

9 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。

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 posturing   

做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was posturing a model. 她正在摆模特儿的姿势。
• She says the President may just be posturing. 她说总统也许只是在做样子而已。

12 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

13 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。

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

15 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。