2006年VOA标准英语-G8 Foreign Ministers Demand Reply from Iran on

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
29 June 2006

Foreign Ministers of the Group of Eight industrialized nations are calling on Iran to respond to an international proposal aimed at ending the standoff with the West over its controversial nuclear program. During closed door talks in Moscow, the ministers also prepared the agenda for the G8 summit next month in St. Petersburg.

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Sergei Lavrov    
  
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says G8 foreign ministers expect Iran to formally respond to the Western proposal for talks in the nearest future.

Mr. Lavrov, whose nation has been trying to use its influence with Iran to break the impasse¹, announced that the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, will meet with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, July 5, to review the issue.

The proposal on the table reportedly offers Tehran various incentives², in return for its agreement to halt its uranium enrichment program, which Washington and Europe fear could be used to build a nuclear weapon.

Foreign Minister Lavrov says total agreement also was reached on the three priority subjects at next month's summit: energy security, education and infectious diseases.

Lavrov says the ministers also discussed North Korea, Afghanistan, North Africa, Iraq and the Middle East.

 

Foreign ministers of G8 countries and EU Commissioners³ pose for picture in Moscow, Thursday  
  
The foreign ministers from the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia say they are in agreement that the al-Qaida terrorists who claim to have killed four Russian diplomats⁴ in Iraq must be found and brought to justice. They also called for calm to be restored to the West Bank and Gaza, where recent kidnappings and arrests have sparked violence.

Analyst⁵ Yevgeni Volk of the Heritage Foundation in Moscow tells VOA, Russian President Vladimir Putin's primary goal, as host of next month's summit, is to avoid any serious rebuke⁶ by the West over what some say is Russia's back-tracking on democratic reform.

"I believe some things, which have been done by Mr. Putin in [the] last five or six years have been a serious challenge to Western values, and I believe this question will inevitably⁷ be a topic of serious discussion," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hopes for a strengthening of democracy not only in Russia, but also Belarus and beyond, to Central Asia.

Russian officials are also reported concerned that Western leaders will try to put separatist regional conflicts, like those simmering in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, on the summit's public agenda.

Topping the issues that Russian officials would like to focus on are energy security and the fight against terrorism

1 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

2 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

7 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。