伊朗总统:即使美国退出伊核协议也无碍伊朗经济

Iran Says it May Remain in Nuclear Deal Even if US Withdraws

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has suggested that Iran could stay in a major nuclear deal even if the United States withdraws.

Reuters news service reported that Rouhani made the comments on state television Monday. He said, “We are not worried about America’s cruel decisions…We are prepared for all scenarios³ and no change will occur in our lives next week.”

The Iranian president added that his country could stay in the 2015 deal if its interests are guaranteed by other countries that are part of the agreement.

“If we can get what we want from a deal without America, then Iran will continue to remain committed to the deal,” he said.

Deal criticized as flawed

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump⁴ has strongly criticized the nuclear deal agreed to in 2015 by several powerful countries.

Under the agreement, Iran promised to limit its uranium enrichment activities so that it could not create enough fuel for nuclear weapons. In exchange, billions of dollars of seized Iranian money was released and many restrictions⁵ on the country were ended, including some on oil sales.

France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China are the other members of the agreement.

Trump had criticized the deal even before he entered the 2016 American presidential campaign. He has threatened to not extend waivers of the restrictions. This would effectively put many trade restrictions back in place.

The U.S. president said “flaws” in the agreement must be fixed⁶ before he is willing to extend the waivers again. They are set to end on May 12.

Britain, France and Germany want the deal to continue. French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor⁷ Angela Merkel have sought to persuade Trump to think the same.

On Monday, Vice¹ President Mike Pence is to hold talks with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in Washington. The Iran deal will be a main subject of discussion.

Before his visit, Johnson said Britain, the U.S. and European countries want Iran to stop activities that are making the Middle East less secure. He said these include “its cyber activities, its support for groups like Hezbollah, and its dangerous missile program, which is arming Houthi militias⁸ in Yemen.”

May 12 is the time limit for the waivers to be extended. However, two possibilities may delay any change even if the U.S. restarts sanctions.

The deal calls for dispute resolution that requires parties to provide at least 35 days to consider if any party has violated its terms.

Also, if sanctions are put back in effect, U.S. law would give banks of nations that signed the deal 180 days to put the renewed restrictions in place.

Iran says it will not reduce its efforts to influence the Middle East. The country has denied that it is seeking nuclear weapons. It has repeatedly said its missile program is for defensive⁹ purposes only.

Economic conditions are poor in Iran. Unemployment remains¹⁰ high while the exchange value of Iranian money has fallen. However, the nuclear deal permits Iran to sell oil to the West at a time when oil prices are at their highest level in several years.

The United Nations nuclear agency has said that Iran is observing the terms of the 2015 deal. Critics, however, answer that the deal does not do enough to make sure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.

On Sunday, Rouhani threatened the U.S. if it withdrew from the nuclear agreement. “You will soon see that they will regret it like never before in history,” he said.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

scenario² –n. a description of what could possibly happen

occur –v. to happen, to take place

waivers –n. to choose not to do or enforce something that otherwise would have to be done or enforced

flaws –n. a problem or weakness

cyber –adj. related to computers and the internet

1 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。

2 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。

3 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 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。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

8 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

9 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

10 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。