VOA常速英语2007年-Bush: Iran Has No Need to Enrich Uranium

By Paula Wolfson
Washington
17 December 2007

President Bush says now that Iran has received an initial shipment of nuclear fuel for its Bushehr power plant from Russia, there is no need for Tehran to enrich uranium. VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson has details.

President Bush says he has no objections to the nuclear fuel shipment from Russia. He says it is part of an effort designed to get Iran to suspend uranium enrichment - a process that could ultimately provide Tehran with the materials and know-how¹ to build a nuclear weapon.

"If the Russians are willing to do that, which I support, then the Iranians do not need to learn how to enrich. If the Iranians accept that uranium for a civilian² nuclear power plant, then there is no need for them to learn how to enrich."

Russia's foreign ministry³ has also called for Iran to halt enrichment. In a written statement, the ministry said Moscow believes new conditions have been created that it said would enable Tehran to meet western demands to stop its uranium enrichment program.

Iran has long maintained it has the right to enrich uranium as part of a civilian nuclear-energy program. And top officials in Iran have indicated they are not willing to stop, even with the delivery of Russian fuel.

President Bush says the stand taken by their government is hurting the Iranian people. "They are heading down a path of isolation⁴ right now and economic sanctions. We have passed two resolutions out of the U.N. and (US Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice is working on a third," he said.

But efforts to win support for additional U.N. sanctions may have suffered a setback⁵ with the recent release of a U.S. intelligence assessment⁶ of Iran's nuclear capabilities⁷ and intentions.

The report said Iran halted work on a nuclear weapons program in 2003 and as of mid-2007 had not restarted it.

President Bush says the intelligence assessment proves the Iranian government cannot be trusted. He says it shows Tehran remains⁸ a danger because it conducted a nuclear weapons program in secret and can reactivate it at any time.

"What is to say they could not start it up tomorrow? Since they tried to hide their program before, how would we know? And so my point on the Iranian issue is this: they owe an explanation to the world ... they need to tell the world why they had a program that they did not report," he said.

The president spoke⁹ during an appearance before community groups in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Although his formal remarks dealt almost exclusively with economic issues, he was asked about Iran and other matters during a question and answer session with his audience.

On the economy, the president once again sought to reassure¹⁰ the public that the nation's economic health is sound, despite recent turmoil¹¹ in the housing and credit markets. He said, once again, that the underpinnings of the economy are good.

1 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

5 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

6 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

7 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 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。

9 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。

10 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

11 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。