2006年VOA标准英语-US Continues to Seek Diplomatic Solution t

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
09 May 2006

The United States says it seeks a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff with Iran, but a U.S. official in Geneva has again dismissed the contents of a letter sent to the United States by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad   
  

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna and the IAEA, Gregory Schulte, says the 18-page letter Iran's president sent to President Bush does not deal with the basic concerns of the international community.

Schulte says Iran remains¹ defiant² and determined³ to pursue an atomic weapons capability⁴ regardless of its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"We do not need lengthy⁵ letters from Iran's president," he said.  "What we need is a decision on his part and on the part of the leadership in Iran to negotiate seriously, to take up the diplomatic offers that are on the table from the EU-3 and from Russia.  And to do this, they need to suspend the activities that are giving the international community such concern and they need to start cooperating fully⁶ with the IAEA." 

Ambassador Schulte says President Bush is not seeking a military solution to Iran's nuclear weapons program, the goal is to achieve a diplomatic settlement.

He says the United States does not want the U.N. Security Council to apply sanctions against Iran right now.  He says sanctions might come into play in a few months if Iran fails to suspend its uranium enrichment program. 

He says the United States and Europe are united in their determination to stop Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions.  He says Russia and China also support that objective.

"There is a strong consensus⁷ that Iran is going down a path that is not acceptable, that Iran needs to get off this path and that we need to achieve a diplomatic solution," he added.  "So, I think actually that the engagement of Russia and China on this has been absolutely key in demonstrating to Iran that they are isolating⁸ themselves and that the course they are taking is not a course they should continue to pursue." 

Schulte says he does not take Iran's threat of pulling out of the non-proliferation treaty seriously.  He says Iran is good at issuing threats, but rarely carries them out.

He says Iranian threats only serve to scare foreign capital and foreign investors⁹ away.  And this he says, hurts the Iranian economy and the Iranian people.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

5 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

6 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。

7 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

8 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会