美国国家公共电台 NPR Reimposing Sanctions Will Hasten End Of Iran Nuclear Deal, Some Experts Warn

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The U.S. imposes major sanctions on Iran on Monday as part of President Trump¹'s decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal. Officials say they want Iran to abandon what they call its destructive behavior. But as NPR's Geoff Brumfiel reports, supporters of the deal contend the administration is endangering an agreement that prevents Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE²: President Trump has made his feelings on the Iran deal pretty clear.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The fact is this was a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.

BRUMFIEL: Someone who did help make the deal is Corey Hinderstein. She worked on it during the Obama administration. And she says it was designed to address a very specific problem. Iran was getting really close to building a nuclear weapon.

COREY HINDERSTEIN: They would've been able to produce enough material, the highly enriched uranium, for a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks.

BRUMFIEL: So in exchange for surrendering enriched uranium, shelving equipment and opening up to inspections³, the deal lifted sanctions. The U.S. wasn't alone. Europe, Russia and China were all part of the deal.

HINDERSTEIN: It wasn't just the United States. It was a truly international effort. I believe that this deal was the best deal we could've made at the time.

BRUMFIEL: Which is not to say it was perfect.

OLLI HEINONEN: I think it had flaws, which were known from the very beginning.

BRUMFIEL: Olli Heinonen is a former weapons inspector⁴ now at the conservative Foundation for Defense⁵ of Democracies. One of his problems with the deal - it doesn't cover Iran's efforts to build powerful missiles that could act as vehicles for delivering nuclear weapons.

HEINONEN: It's also important to have the delivery vehicle as a part of your verification system. Now it's entirely⁶ out.

BRUMFIEL: The Trump administration goes further still. It has a dozen issues it wants resolved. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated⁷ them on Friday. They include things like those missiles but also support for groups opposed to U.S. interests in the region, like Hezbollah. Until all these issues are dealt with, the sanctions are back on, choking off Iran's oil revenues. Hinderstein, who's now at the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative, says this will hit the country hard.

HINDERSTEIN: It will put a vice⁸ on Iran's ability to conduct economic activities internationally.

BRUMFIEL: Pompeo calls it maximum pressure. Iran stayed in the deal because it was expecting economic benefits. So far, it has continued to allow nuclear inspections, but Hinderstein says the whole thing could fall apart in coming months. The Trump administration is counting on its pressure policy to bring Iran back to the table, but Hinderstein says that with the international community divided...

HINDERSTEIN: I see no hope of a better deal on the horizon.

BRUMFIEL: Geoff Brumfiel, NPR News, Washington.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。