白宫指责共和党危害伊朗核谈

 　　CAPITOL HILL—The White House accused a group of 47 U.S. Republican senators Monday of undermining nuclear talks with Iran after the lawmakers warned Tehran that any deal it negotiates with President Barack Obama could last only until he leaves office in early 2017.

　　White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters that a letter the senators sent to Iran was an attempt to "throw sand in the gears" of sensitive negotiations¹ as the U.S. and five other world powers try to reach a basic agreement with Tehran by March 31.

　　"I would describe this letter as the continuation of a partisan² strategy to undermine the president's ability to conduct foreign policy and advance our national security's interests around the globe," Earnest said.

　　White House Accuses Republican Senators of Undermining Iran Talks

　　Freshman³ Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas organized the letter, which was signed by the party’s entire Senate leadership - but no Democrats⁴.

　　The letter said the leaders of Iran “may not fully⁵ understand” the U.S. Constitutional system, and that anything not approved by Congress is a mere⁶ executive agreement. The senators wrote that “the next president could revoke⁷ such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen.”

　　Obama reacted quickly to the letter, saying he thinks it is somewhat ironic⁸ to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with hardliners in Iran - calling it an unusual coalition⁹.  The president said what his administration is focused on right now is seeing whether it can get a deal as part of the international “P5+1” talks with Tehran in Switzerland.

　　Obama said if a deal is reached, he will be able to make a case to the American people and is confident he will be able to implement¹⁰ it.

　　Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also was quick to respond to the letter, saying it has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy¹¹.  Zarif expressed astonishment¹² that some members of the U.S. Congress find it appropriate to write to the leaders of another country against their own president and his administration.

　　Responding in a tone similar to the tone used in the senators’ letter, Zarif said “the authors may not fully understand that in international law, governments represent the entirety of their respective states, are responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs, and are required to fulfill¹³ the obligations they undertake with other states.”

　　Several Democratic lawmakers said they were appalled¹⁴ by the Republicans’ letter. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry¹⁵ Reid said the letter was sent to embarrass the president, and he accused Republicans of trying to undermine their commander-in-chief as he seeks to conduct foreign policy.

　　Republican lawmakers say Congress needs to have a say in a final deal over Iran’s nuclear program - with a deadline for a political framework set for the end of March.

　　Republican Senator Bob Corker and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez have a bill pending¹⁶ that would mandate¹⁷ congressional review of an Iran nuclear deal, but Democrats have insisted that they want to wait and let the international talks play out before the bill is brought to the floor for a vote.

　　Republican House Speaker John Boehner sparked a firestorm of controversy¹⁸ when he invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint¹⁹ session of Congress last week on the dangers of an Iran nuclear deal - without consulting the White House.

　　Democrats were divided over the speech, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying it was condescending²⁰, and that she was near tears during the speech.

　　After the speech was over, Obama reminded Congress that foreign policy is conducted by the executive branch, and not the legislative²¹ branch.

　　Over the weekend, Obama said the U.S. will "walk away" from the nuclear talks with Tehran if it decides that an internationally verifiable deal cannot be reached to keep Iran from building a nuclear weapon. But he has threatened to veto proposed legislation that would mandate congressional review of any deal that is reached.

　　Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian²² purposes and has been negotiating with the U.S., Germany, Britain, France, China and Russia on the scope of nuclear activities it can carry out in exchange for lifting the crippling economic sanctions the U.S. and Europe have imposed on it.

　　Negotiators are facing a self-imposed deadline to complete the basic structure of a deal by March 31, with final agreement by the end of June.

1 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。

2 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

3 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

8 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 ploy   

n.花招，手段

参考例句：

• I think this is just a government ploy to deceive the public.我认为这只是政府欺骗公众的手段。
• Christmas should be a time of excitement and wonder,not a cynical marketing ploy.圣诞节应该是兴奋和美妙的时刻，而不该是一种肆无忌惮的营销策略。

12 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

13 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

14 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

16 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

17 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

18 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。

19 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

20 condescending   

adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的

参考例句：

• He has a condescending attitude towards women. 他对女性总是居高临下。
• He tends to adopt a condescending manner when talking to young women. 和年轻女子说话时，他喜欢摆出一副高高在上的姿态。

21 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

22 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。