美国国家公共电台 NPR What You Need To Know About The Iran Nuclear Deal

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Trump¹ could change the direction of U.S. relations in the Middle East with a single statement today. This afternoon, the president reveals his decision on whether he will make good on his 2016 campaign promise to undo² the Iran nuclear deal.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have been in business a long time. I know deal-making, and let me tell you - this deal is catastrophic for America, for Israel and for the whole of the Middle East.

MARTIN: America's allies in Europe and elsewhere have been trying to caution the president to keep the pact³ in place. Larry Kaplow is NPR's Middle East editor. He's been following this closely, and he joins us in the studio now. Hey, Larry.

LARRY KAPLOW, BYLINE⁴: Hello.

MARTIN: All right. So if the president goes ahead, as we expect him to today, and announce that the U.S. is going to reimpose sanctions on Iran, what's that going to look like?

KAPLOW: Well, we don't know what that will set in motion. It's, in essence, an act of brinksmanship to see what other countries will do. A European diplomat⁵ told NPR and some other reporters that they expect the president to withdraw from the deal, and that will have consequences that we don't totally understand. Let's just step back - remind people what the deal is.

MARTIN: Yeah.

KAPLOW: The U.S. - five other countries - agreed to lift some economic sanctions on Iran. In return, Iran allowed inspectors⁶ to go into its nuclear facilities. They destroyed a whole bunch of their nuclear equipment. And supporters say this will keep Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. Opponents, including the president, say, well, it doesn't deal with other things Iran is doing, like support for Hezbollah, Hamas testing ballistic missiles.

MARTIN: So we know that Donald Trump has hated this deal for a really long time, so why is this the moment that he's deciding to make a change?

KAPLOW: Under the deal, the U.S. committed to lift sanctions that the U.S. had already put in force in the past. Those sanctions come up for renewal⁷ every several months. And he has continued to lift these sanctions to provide this economic relief partly because his own administration was split on what to do and partly because there were allies like Europe urging him to continue to stay in it. But he kept vowing⁸ and threatening that he would get out.

MARTIN: What does this mean for Iranians?

KAPLOW: Well, right now, the Iranians overnight were saying they could handle this. They are saying, well, there could be a tough period for - for a couple of months. But they'll continue, and they'll try to establish - continue good relations with Europe and other parts of the world.

MARTIN: Does that mean they'd stay in the deal?

KAPLOW: It sounds like they're offering that maybe as a way to say, well, Iran's playing ball. It's the U.S. that's acting⁹ like the rogue¹⁰ partner in this case. In another scenario¹¹, they could ultimately say, well, if the U.S. has gotten out, then Iran's going to get out and kick out the inspectors and ramp¹² up its nuclear program again.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Larry, there's a thing I want to figure out here. Of course, Iran is a huge oil producer. The price of oil has been creeping up just with the anticipation¹³ that sanctions might be reimposed. If sanctions are reimposed - if oil sales are in some way blocked, doesn't that mean that Saudi Arabia and also, by the way, Russia - huge oil producers - would get to sell a lot more oil to the world?

KAPLOW: Right. Oil is a commodity. There aren't - you can substitute it from one place when another place is taken out of it. You raise a good point. These sanctions, which are coming up for renewal or reimposition on Saturday, are about their sales of oil and how companies - countries can buy oil from them. But the U.S. - the devil's in the details. How does the U.S. enforce this? It could reimpose sanctions but also give some thresholds that lets countries continue to buy oil from Iran.

INSKEEP: Buy some oil from Iran. That could happen.

MARTIN: All right. We'll have to stay tuned¹⁴. NPR's Middle East editor Larry Kaplow, thanks so much.

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 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

3 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

4 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。

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

11 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

12 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

13 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

14 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》