VOA标准英语2015 家人呼吁伊朗释放四年前囚禁的前美国海军

Family of American Marine¹ Calls for Release From Iranian Prison 家人呼吁伊朗释放四年前囚禁的前美国海军

VIENNA—

As the crowd of journalists covering the Iran talks swells², so too do the opportunities for media coverage³.  Hoping to catch the attention of high-level diplomats⁴, the family of American-Iranian marine Amir Hekmati is in Vienna, pleading for his release from an Iranian prison after nearly four years.

Four years ago, Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, traveled to Iran to visit his grandmother.  Two weeks later, he was arrested.

This week his sister, Sarah Hekmati traveled to Vienna to appeal to U.S. and Iranian officials for medical care for her brother, and ultimately his release after only 15 minutes in court.

“And at that point, it was announced within that week after being tried for 15 minutes that he was sentenced to death for — there were a number of charges but over all it was about spying.  He was there for espionage," she said.

The charges were later dropped, but Amir remains⁵ in jail, accused of working with a hostile government, says Sarah’s husband, Ramy Kurdi.

“It’s been completely dropped by Iran for lack of evidence by the Supreme⁶ Court in the latest of cases," he said.  "His only charge is cooperating with a hostile country, which is America, but by definition in their laws, America is not a hostile country.”

This cooperation, he says, was simply serving as U.S. Marine before he had acquired Iranian citizenship⁷ in order to travel to the country of his heritage. 

Kurdi cites other legal justifications⁸ for letting Amir free, as the U.S. and Iran continue direct talks here in Vienna aimed at curbing⁹ Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

Sarah Hekmati says her family traveled to Vienna to appeal to diplomats, both Iranian and American, for medical care and ultimately freedom for her brother.

"I just want my brother home.  I want my dad to hold his son again," she said. "I want my mom’s heart to stop breaking.  I want the hole that we all feel by his absence to be filled.  I want this nightmare to end.”

Other Americans in Iranian jails

U.S. President Barack Obama says he is “deeply concerned” about Hekmati and three other Americans held in Iranian prisons, including Jason Rezaian an American-Iranian journalist with The Washington Post.

“With respect to U.S. citizens, U.S. persons who are held in Iran, this is something that we continue to push hard on irrespective of the nuclear deal," he said.  "It's a top priority for us to make sure that our people are treated fairly.”

Officials say the stakes are too high for the talks — and the families — to tie prisoners to the nuclear deal.  Despite Congressional hearings and resolutions, some analysts¹⁰ say U.S. negotiators are not likely to put a nuclear deal at risk over the fate of a few people.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

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 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。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

8 justifications   

正当的理由，辩解的理由( justification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If he a vulgar person, she does not have justifications for him. 如果他是个低级趣味的人，她早就不会理他了。
• It depends on their effect on competition and possible justifications. 这则取决于它们对于竞争的影响和可能存在的正当抗辩理由。

9 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。