VOA慢速英语2009-IN THE NEWS - Khamenei Says Protests Over Ir

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
　
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking Friday, in an image from Iranian state broadcaster IRIB

Iran's top leader has demanded a stop to protests over the disputed presidential election.

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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke¹ at Tehran University to a huge crowd for Friday prayers. It was his first speech since last Friday's election. "The result of the election comes from the ballot² box," he said, "not from the street."

The supreme³ leader warned that if the unrest continues, protest leaders will be held responsible for any violence. At least seven protesters were killed Monday during clashes with pro-government militia⁴.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Republic would not cheat or betray the vote of the people. He said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by eleven million votes. With that big a difference, he said, how could there have been cheating?

He denounced what he called interference by foreign powers. The crowd shouted "death to America" and "death to Britain."

The speech followed days of protests by hundreds of thousands of supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

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Mir Hossein Mousavi with supporters in Tehran on Thursday, in a photo released by his campaign media operation, Ghalam News

The protests in Tehran and other cities have been the worst unrest in Iran since the Islamic revolution thirty years ago.

Iran's Guardian⁵ Council -- which supervises elections -- has offered to recount some votes and investigate complaints of wrongdoing.

But the government this week arrested many opposition⁶ members, activists⁷ and journalists. On Friday, European Union leaders urged the government to permit all citizens the right to assemble and express themselves peacefully.

Iran banned foreign media coverage⁸ of the protests. News agencies have depended heavily on information and images sent by Iranians using social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Young people especially are finding ways to get around Internet blocking.

On Friday, Facebook announced it is making its Web site available in the Farsi language. Google also has a new Farsi translating tool. And Twitter, at the request of the State Department, delayed a planned shutdown of its service for maintenance.

But American officials deny interfering⁹ in Iran's election process. President Obama said Monday that he was deeply troubled by the violence. But he also says it is up to Iranians to decide who their leaders will be. He has not stepped back from his policy of seeking to work with Iran after thirty years without diplomatic ties.

Some say he is being realistic. Others say he should forcefully denounce the election.

On Friday, both houses of Congress passed resolutions expressing support for all Iranians who value freedom, human rights and the rule of law. American lawmakers condemned¹⁰ violence against demonstrators and the suppression of Internet and cellphone communication.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 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。

4 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

5 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

9 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

10 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。