纽约时报 伊朗对峙反倒助长了两国鹰派的气焰(4)（在线收听）

The conflicting incentives of the American-allied Persian Gulf monarchs only add to the complexity.

波斯湾与美国结盟的君主们彼此冲突的算盘只会让问题变得更加复杂。

The hawkish rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have a vested interest in Washington’s tensions with Tehran:

沙特和阿联酋的鹰派统治者就有既得利益牵连在华盛顿与德黑兰的紧张关系里：

The shared enmity holds together the American alliance with the Arab gulf rulers.

共同的敌意让美国与阿拉伯海湾诸位统治者之间的联盟关系得以维系。

And a surge in those tensions may be especially useful to the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman,

倘若紧张局势加剧，获利最大的或将是沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼，

as he tries to move past a backlash in Washington over the Saudi killing of Jamal Khashoggi,

因为贾马尔·哈苏吉——《华盛顿邮报》供稿人，家住弗吉尼亚，对沙特持有不同政见——

a dissident who lived in Virginia and wrote for The Washington Post.

被杀一事让华盛顿对沙特有了抵触情绪，而王储目前正在设法摆脱这一问题。

“The Saudis know there is nothing like a whiff of grapeshot to keep the Americans engaged,” Mr. Shapiro said.

“没有什么比小道消息更能把美国牵扯进来，沙特人对此是再清楚不过了，”夏皮罗说。

In his first public comments about the episode,

周六，在对这一事件首次公开发表评论时，

the crown prince told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday

王储告诉泛阿拉伯报纸Asharq al-Awsat的记者，

that Saudi Arabia “does not want war” but “will not hesitate to deal with any threat.”

沙特“不想挑起战争”，但“也会毫不犹豫地直面任何威胁”。

The prince accused Iran of carrying out the attacks on the tankers on Thursday

王子指控周四油轮遇袭事件是伊朗所为，

as well as other “hostile acts in the region” that “spread chaos and destruction.”

“在该地区散布混乱和破坏”的其他“敌对行为”也是伊朗所为。

Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long battled with Iran indirectly

长期以来，沙特和阿联酋一直都在借黎巴嫩、伊拉克、

through surrogates in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

叙利亚和其他地方的代理人之手与伊朗展开侧面斗争。

Now the two Arab monarchies are fighting directly against Iranian allies in Yemen.

如今，阿拉伯世界的这两个君主国已经开始同也门境内的伊朗盟友展开正面斗争了。

Yet at the same time, diplomats say,

尽管如此，外交官们表示，

the Saudis and Emiratis also have good reason to hope that the escalating threats stop short of a shooting war.

沙特和阿联酋也有充分的理由希望，不断升级的威胁不会引发枪战。

The rulers of both countries are acutely aware

因为两国的统治者都非常清楚，

that they are directly in the line of fire of any military conflict between the United States and Iran.

如果美国和伊朗真的发生军事冲突，无论是何等程度的冲突，都会毫无疑问地殃及到他们。

In recent weeks, missiles from Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthis,

最近几周，也门境内的伊朗盟友——胡塞武装发射的导弹

hit a Saudi oil pipeline as well as a civilian airport, where 26 people were reportedly injured.

击中了沙特的一条石油管道和一个民用机场，据报道，造成了26人受伤。

Prince Mohammed “will be thinking about the Houthi attack on that Saudi airport,”

穆罕默德王储“会考虑胡塞武装袭击沙特机场一事，”

said Mr. Jenkins, the former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

前英国驻沙特阿拉伯大使詹金斯说道。

“That is bigger for him” than the episode in the Gulf of Oman.

比起阿曼湾的插曲，“这件事对他而言更为重大”。