2006年VOA标准英语-Iran's Ties to Terrorist Groups Pose Threa

By Bill Rodgers
Washington, D.C.
17 May 2006
 
watch Terrorism report

European countries are preparing a package of incentives¹ to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program. As tension rises over the country's nuclear ambitions, the United States is again accusing Iran of sponsoring terrorism. VOA's Bill Rodgers reports some experts believe Iran might respond to any U.S. action through surrogate terrorist attacks.

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Hezbollah in Lebanon -- the al-Aqsa Martyrs² Brigades in the Palestinian territories -- and possibly  the notorious al-Qaida -- are all terror groups with alleged³ ties to Iran.

The U.S. State Department accuses Iran of being an active state sponsor of terrorism.  Henry Crumpton heads the Department's Counterterrorism office.

"Again in 2005, Iran remained the most active sponsor of terrorism.  Iran encouraged anti-Israeli activity: rhetorically, operationally and financially.  Iran provided Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorist groups with extensive funding, training and weapons."

The standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions has heightened tensions with Washington. There has been speculation⁴ in the U.S. media about possible pre-emptive strikes -- which the Bush administration refuses to rule out. 

James Phillips  
  
Should that happen, James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation believes Iran would retaliate⁵ in two ways: "One, driving up the price of oil by attacking oil convoys⁶ in the Strait of Hormuz and possibly by attacking oil facilities on the Arab side of the Gulf⁷. And secondly⁸, I think, it would step up its support for international terrorism, its support for anti-American attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I think Hezbollah in Lebanon would be activated⁹ not only to attack Israel but to attack Americans around the world."

Hezbollah, which receives financing from Iran, was responsible for the 1983 bombing of the U.S. barracks in Beirut that killed 241 Marines. A U.S. Federal grand jury charged that Saudi Hezbollah -- with Iranian backing -- was responsible for the Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia in 1996 in which 19 American service members died.

Iran is now home for some members of al-Qaida, although their status is uncertain, according to former CIA counterterrorism officer Vince Cannistraro.

 
Vince Cannistraro
  
"When al-Qaida fled Afghanistan after the invasion of Afghanistan by the United States, a number of them went to Iran and many of them were incarcerated¹⁰ by the Iranians.  The Iranians sent maybe 100 to 200 of these people back to their home countries: Saudi Arabia and Egypt, et cetera.  But nevertheless they retain in Iran a number of senior al-Qaida leaders, ostensibly under some kind of custody¹¹."

That includes Saif Adel, a top al-Qaida member, who is believed to have planned a terrorist attack against Saudi Arabia in 2003 from inside Iran.  Tehran in the past has denied ties to al-Qaida.  

 
John Calabrese
  
Middle East expert John Calabrese does not believe Iran would turn to al-Qaida to attack the United States. "I'm not really sure that if they wanted to perpetrate acts of terror against American targets or other western targets, or the American homeland for that matter, they would have to depend on al-Qaida operatives to do it.  The Iranians have a very extensive, very sophisticated, very well-placed set of agents and operatives of their own.  So I'm not sure they would have to outsource any of this."

But the relationship between Iran and al-Qaida remains¹² murky¹³. Some U.S. intelligence officials are said to believe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be forging an alliance with al-Qaida as a way to expand Tehran's influence.  For its part, Iran has said no al-Qaida members remain in the country.

The U.S. accusations¹⁴ about Iran's ties to terrorism echo the kinds of charges made against Iraq in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.  But in the case of Iran, most experts believe the evidence is more concrete - though Iran's ultimate intentions are unknown.

1 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

2 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

6 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

9 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

10 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

11 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

14 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。