英语杂谈：95 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that an Iranian nuclear scientist, who Iran claims was abducted¹ by U.S. agents, is in the United States on his own free will and is free to leave.  The Iranian, Shahram Amiri, turned up at the Iranian interests section, located at the Pakistani embassy in Washington.

Officials here are saying nothing about Amiri's activities or where he has been since he disappeared while on a religious pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia during June of last year.

But they insist that he has been in the United States on his own free will, has not been mistreated, and is free to return to his homeland whenever he wants.

The comments followed an Iranian announcement that that Amiri, a 32-year-old nuclear scientist, had entered the Iranian office in Washington, officially part of the Pakistani embassy, and asked for his immediate² return to Iran.
Iran has repeatedly accused the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency of abducting³ Amiri, who worked for a university with close links to the country's Revolutionary Guards Corps⁴.

But Amiri purportedly⁵ has given conflicting accounts in videos appearing on the Internet in recent weeks.

In one, he allegedly said he was kidnapped by U.S. agents, in another he purportedly said he had escaped from U.S. intelligence, and in a third that he was free and safe and studying in the United States.

The U.S. broadcast network ABC reported earlier this year that Amiri had defected and provided information on Iran's nuclear program, which U.S. officials say has a weapons component⁶.

At a press event with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Amiri is free to leave the United States, and contrasted his case with three American hikers who have been jailed in Iran since straying into the country from northern Iraq last year.

"Mr. Amiri has been in the United States of his own free will and he is free to go,," Clinton said. "In fact he was scheduled to travel to Iran yesterday, but was unable to make all the necessary arrangements to reach Iran through transit⁷ countries.  In contrast, Iran continues to hold three young Americans against their will.  And we reiterate⁸ our request that they be released and allow to return to their families on a humanitarian⁹ basis."

Clinton also said the United States still has no information on the status of Robert Levinson, a former agent with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation¹⁰ who disappeared after arriving at an Iranian resort island in the Persian Gulf¹¹ in 2007.

State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said the mention of the Americans held or believed missing in Iran was not a suggestion that some sort of exchange deal was being discussed.

He also said he had no information to suggest that Amiri had been mistreated while in the United States, despite claims he made in an Iranian interview that had been subjected to psychological pressure.

A U.S. official said Amiri came and lived freely in the United States, and that his videos and other actions prove he was not here against his will, and that he was neither tortured nor imprisoned¹².

Although the United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has operated its interests section in Washington for several years -- mainly handling consular¹³ services for Iranians in the United States.

The United States is represented in Iran by Switzerland, but has no interests section in Tehran.

 

1 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 abducting   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• She was charged with abducting a six-month-old child. 她被控诱拐一个6个月大的孩子。
• At the same time, the rate of abducting foreigners is going down. 同时，发生在外国人身上的绑架案正在下降。

4 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• 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。

5 purportedly   

adv.据称

参考例句：

• This is purportedly the oldest tree in the world. 据称这是世界上最古老的一棵树。 来自互联网
• Mayor Oh Se-Hoon launched the campaign last year, purportedly to improve efficiency. 据悉，首尔市市长吴世勋于去年提出了这项旨在提高工作效率的计划。 来自互联网

6 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

7 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

8 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

12 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

13 consular   

a.领事的

参考例句：

• He has rounded out twenty years in the consular service. 他在领事馆工作已整整20年了。
• Consular invoices are declarations made at the consulate of the importing country. 领事发票是进口国领事馆签发的一种申报书。