伊朗核会谈艰难进行中

 　　LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND—Two top foreign ministers helping¹ to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran are sounding confident that an agreement can be reached by Tuesday's deadline.

　　Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Sunday that several elements are missing, and Iran has to be more flexible. But he said he believes Iran wants the talks to end.

　　Britain's Philip Hammond also said he believes a deal can be done. But he, too, said Iran has to make some tough decisions.

　　The United States and five other world powers moved toward an agreement with Iran to limit Tehran's nuclear development program, but have yet to reach a final accord.

　　Iran Talks Get Tougher as Deadline Looms²

　　Diplomats³ meeting Sunday in Lausanne, Switzerland reported Tehran has shown a willingness to cut the number of nuclear centrifuges it operates to fewer than 6,000 and ship most of its enriched uranium stockpiles to Russia for storage.

　　In exchange, the countries negotiating with Iran -  Britain, China, France, Russia, Germany and the United States - were reported to be considering allowing Iran to conduct limited, closely monitored nuclear testing for medical purposes at an underground facility called Fordow.

　　But officials monitoring the talks said some contentious⁴ issues remain under negotiation⁵ as Iran and the six world powers attempt to reach the framework for a deal by their self-imposed Tuesday deadline.

　　German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier described the atmosphere in the talks as "very good," but cautioned that there still could be hurdles⁶ to completing a deal.

　　"I cannot rule out," Steinmeier said, "and this is almost always the case with such negotiations⁷ where the stakes are high and in which we feel responsible not only to ourselves but to all the others who are not at the table, I can't rule out that there will be further crises in these negotiations."

　　In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told ABC's This Week television news show, "Ultimately it's time for the Iranians to send a clear signal to the international community about whether or not they are willing to make the serious commitments required, and basically live up to their rhetoric⁹, that they are not trying to acquire a nuclear weapon."

　　Right combination

　　The U.S. official said senior negotiators continue to put ideas on the table during their two to three daily meetings, but they have not found the right combination of terms on the remaining issues.

　　Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group, which works with negotiators to try to bridge gaps, is not surprised.

　　“Negotiations of this much political sensitivity, and of this complexity¹⁰, and of such high stakes usually have to go down to the wire. There needs to be brinksmanship until the 11th hour. And it really does not depend on one party. It depends on both sides," Vaez said.

　　The negotiators are not promising¹¹ an agreement. And if they reach one, they are not saying what form it will take. This is only an interim¹² step to agree on the major elements of an accord. Three more months of negotiating are planned to draft a final, fully¹³ detailed¹⁴ agreement.

　　But Vaez said this interim step is more important than had been expected because it is forcing the negotiators to settle key volatile¹⁵ issues, and because skeptics, most importantly in the U.S. Congress, are demanding proof that the talks are achieving their goals.

　　Verifiable guarantees

　　For the United States and its negotiating partners, that means verifiable guarantees that Iran’s nuclear program is purely¹⁶ peaceful. For Iran, the key goal is the easing and eventual¹⁷ end of international economic sanctions.

　　“The only path forward is one step at a time. And if they are able to get a mutually acceptable formula, the challenges that remain are much less significant than if they are not able to go back to their capitals with some kind of concrete achievement," Vaez said.

　　The key capitals are Tehran and Washington, but China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany are also part of the talks, and all the foreign ministers are expected in Switzerland for the final push.

　　Those countries were deputized by the U.N. Security Council to conduct these talks.

　　The talks are being closely followed by all the Middle Eastern governments, especially Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the negotiations because he said they will not end Iran's ability to acquire nuclear weapons.

　　On Sunday he called the possible deal "very dangerous for humanity."

　　How to communicate

　　The senior U.S. official who spoke⁸ Sunday said the negotiators will have to communicate the main elements of any agreement in some way, but could not say how that might be done.

　　Iran’s foreign minister has expressed concern that publishing what would amount to a partial agreement would only provide ammunition¹⁸ to critics. There has been talk that the results of these talks might only be presented orally.

　　But Vaez and other analysts¹⁹ point out that without something written, the critics will pounce²⁰ anyway. Still, the experts also note that the U.S. Congress is not in session until mid-April, which could give the negotiators some time to come up with the right format²¹ for putting any agreement on paper.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

6 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

11 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

12 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

13 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。

14 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

15 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

16 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

17 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

18 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

19 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

20 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

21 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。