美国参议员讨论伊朗、叙利亚、朝鲜

AS IT IS 2016-02-03 US Senator Discusses Iran, Syria, North Korea 美国参议员讨论伊朗、叙利亚、朝鲜

A leading member of the U.S. Senate says he is deeply concerned about the nuclear agreement with Iran, but wants it to succeed.

Bob Corker of Tennessee belongs to the Republican Party and is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee for the Senate. He spoke¹ this week with VOA’s Michael Bowman.

The Foreign Relations Committee meets about pressing global issues. Among those are the war in Syria, North Korea’s nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions on Iran. The Iran sanctions were designed to punish the Iranian government for seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Last year, the U.S. helped negotiate an agreement that lifted the sanctions. President Barack Obama praised Congress, saying the world had set limits on Iran’s nuclear activities without going to war.

Senator Corker did not support the lifting of sanctions on Iran. He said that Iran violated the deal reached in July by testing a long-range missile in October. He said that the U.S. would continue to pressure Iran to honor the terms of the agreement.

“… I think where we can add strength, you say in a Republican Congress, I say in a bipartisan manner because it’s felt there are concerns on both sides of the aisle², is to do everything we can to hold Iran’s feet to the fire.

“Since the agreement was agreed to, they violated UN Security Council Resolutions relative again to ballistic missile testing. And yet, as you can see there has been no pushback at all which has really disappointing at the UN Security Council.”

Some Republicans have said that a new president should “rip up” the agreement. When asked about it, Corker said a new president must convene³ and lead. He said the president will have to consider the partners in the deal to get the best results.

“Probably the best way to do it is not just to come in a rip it, but to assess and to move ahead based on where we are at the time. “

Questions about Syria Peace Efforts

Corker also spoke about the civil war in Syria. The Syrian government, opposition⁴ groups and international negotiators are talking in Switzerland. Corker told VOA those meetings are difficult.

"I think the opposition that, you know, we communicated some with last week has been put in a very awkward place. The humanitarian⁵ things that they had asked for have not occurred..."

Opposition groups say they want government airstrikes to stop so humanitarian aid can be brought to areas controlled by rebels. Syrian government forces, with support from Russia, have increased attacks on the city of Aleppo.

Corker said he supports the negotiations⁶.

"I certainly support diplomatic talks as I think everyone would, but the elements at present do not feel that they are in their proper place.”

Sanctions on North Korea to Affect Chinese Entities⁷

The senator shared with VOA his thoughts about sanctions aimed at North Korea. His committee approved a bill last week that increases sanctions related to North Korea’s nuclear program.

That bill responded to a nuclear test that North Korea said it carried out on January 6. The measure is aimed at entities or groups that supply North Korea’s military. Some of those entities and groups are Chinese organizations selling to North Korea.

“I don’t think there is any question that some of those entities are Chinese.”

Corker said China was key to North Korea’s actions. He said he was not satisfied with progress made by the United Nations Security Council about North Korea.

Speaking about China and additional U.S. sanctions, he said, “I hope these sanctions will change that and hopefully call them to respond to a different way.”

Words in This Story

sanctions – n. actions taken or an order give to force a country to obey international law by limiting trade or other actions

awkward – adj. not easy to deal with

bipartisan – adj. involving two political parties

both sides of the aisle – idiom involving both political parties

pushback – n. an effort to counteract⁸ or push back against an action

rip up – v. to cancel; to break up or destroy

convene – v. to come together in a group for a meeting

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 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

3 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

4 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。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 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。

7 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。