VOA标准英语2011--Iran Extends Influence in Central Asia's Tajikistan

Iran Extends Influence in Central Asia's Tajikistan

Iran is competing with Russia as it seeks to forge closer ties with Tajikistan, the one Persian-speaking nation of the former Soviet¹ Central Asia.
The capitals of Iran and Tajikistan are 1,000 kilometers apart, but when their presidents meet, they don’t need interpreters.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke² in Dushanbe, with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon. They lead the world’s two majority Persian-speaking nations.
Twenty years ago, when the Soviet Union collapsed⁴, Iran was the first nation to recognize an independent Tajikistan. Iran’s red, white and green tricolor flag served as a model for Tajikistan’s flag.
Muhiddin Kabiri is head of Tajikistan’s Islamic Renewal⁵ Party:
Kabiri notes that Iranians are Shi'ite Muslims and Tajiks are Sunni Muslims. Otherwise, he says the two peoples are united by a common history, literature, and language.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad has called the relationship “one spirit in two bodies.”
The Iranian president was here in September to inaugurate a hydroelectric plant and sign an agreement for a second one. Iran is to operate both plants until it has recouped its investments through electricity sales.
Sayfullo Safarov is deputy director of Tajikistan’s Center for Strategic Studies, a government-affiliated think tank:
He says that the two nations’ interests align⁶ in energy, trade and culture.
Iran is the second largest foreign investor⁷ in Tajikistan after China. Now, China and Iran are planning to build a connecting rail line through Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
But Russia is still the dominant⁸ power here. Kabiri’s Islamic Party works closely with Tajik migrant workers in Russia.
He says Iran will never replace Russia. He notes that one million Tajik men now support their families by working in Russia.
But Moscow’s rule of Tajikistan lasted only one century, compared to Tajikistan’s 2,500 years of common history with the ancient Persian Empire.
Zafar Abdullayev, a pro-democracy blogger here, believes that Iran and Tajikistan will eventually form a visa-free common market.
He says that for Tajikistan, an officially largely secular⁹ nation, keys to closer ties will be more democracy and more tolerance¹⁰ in Iran.
Two decades after the collapse³ of Soviet power in Central Asia, Abdullayev and others say that now it is Iran’s turn to liberalize.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 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。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

6 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

7 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

8 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

9 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。