美国参议院领袖:伊朗核协议难过国会这关

AS IT IS 2015-07-14 US Senate Leader: Iran Nuclear Deal 'Hard Sell' in Congress 美国参议院领袖:伊朗核协议难过国会这关

The United States has been one of six world powers taking part in the Iranian nuclear talks in Vienna. A top U.S. lawmaker says any deal resulting from the talks will leave Iran as what he calls a ‘threshold nuclear state.’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is the chief representative of the Republican Party in the Senate. He also says it will be difficult to get congressional approval for a nuclear deal with Iran. He says no deal is better than a bad agreement that would ‘legitimize’ the country’s government.

On Sunday, the Senate Majority Leader criticized President Barack Obama and members of his negotiating team at the nuclear talks. Senator McConnell told Fox News television that the Obama administration’s position is to reach any deal that Iran is willing to agree to. He says there was another possibility: supporting new measures aimed at punishing Iran for its nuclear activities.

"We could have ratcheted up the sanctions even further because that’s what brought them to the (negotiating) table in the first place. But the administration chose to go down this path and we’re going to be interested in things like, will the Iranians reveal their past research and development, what have they done in the past on this subject?"

The senator says U.S. lawmakers have concerns about Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles. And he says they are worried about Iranian involvement in Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Yemen. 

Last May, Congress approved and President Obama signed into law the Iran Nuclear Deal Review Act. The measure gives lawmakers the power to approve or reject a nuclear agreement. It gives Congress up to 60 days to study an agreement and bars the president from lifting any economic actions during that period. The president could sign the deal or veto it. Congress would need a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to cancel a veto.

Appearing on a separate program Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner said no deal with Iran is better than a bad deal:

"And from everything that’s leaked from these negotiations¹, the administration has backed away from almost all of the guidelines that they set out for themselves, and I don’t want to see a bad deal."

He says measures against Iran should remain in effect until the country ends its efforts to get a nuclear weapon and stops being the world’s largest state supporter of terrorism. He says a disagreement with Iran is better than, in his words, legitimizing a rogue² regime.

Bob Corker is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says the negotiations with Iran have been on what he calls a downward trend. He thinks the talks have reached a point of no return. He questions what he sees as a decision by negotiators to suspend their efforts to break up Iran’s nuclear program. He says the negotiators are instead seeking to control Iran’s nuclear activities.

The committee’s top Democrat³, Bob Menendez, says the agreement taking shape in Vienna makes him anxious. He says the world seems to be prepared to cut back sanctions for the promise of verification, or confirmation⁴, of Iran’s actions. He notes this is far different from the earlier objective of breaking down Iran’s nuclear infrastructure⁵:

"We have to make very clear that there is a deterrence⁶ in the longer term because, if not, in 12, 13 years we’ll be exactly back to where we are today except Iran will have $100 billion, $150-billion more in its pocket and promoting terrorism throughout the Middle East."

He says Iran must be made to understand that the U.S. cannot accept an Iran with a nuclear weapon.

Words in This Story

threshold – n. the entrance to a room or building; the point or level at which something begins or changes.

legitimize – v. to make legal or acceptable

sanction(s) – n. actions or measures designed to punish someone or something for disobeying rules

reveal – v. to show or make public

rogue regime – n. a government that carries out policies in unpredictable ways

downward trend – n. movement to a lower level or position

anxious – adj. feeling nervous or uneasy about some future event

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 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。