2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Discusses Iran with Russian Counterpa

By David Gollust
State Department
24 March 2006

Condoleezza Rice  
  
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is stepping up efforts for a U.N. Security Council statement calling on Iran to end uranium enrichment and return to negotiations¹ on its nuclear program. She spoke² to her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov Friday and will go to Europe next week for talks dominated by the Iranian issue.

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The five permanent members of the Security Council have been deadlocked³ for two weeks on the wording of a statement demanding that Iran live up to its international nuclear commitments.

But the secretary sounded optimistic after her phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, saying they had instructed their negotiators in New York to work through the weekend if necessary to come up with an acceptable draft.

With U.S. backing, Britain and France have proposed a draft president's statement in the Security Council understood to give Iran a two-week deadline to end enrichment activity or face possible punitive⁴ action.

Diplomats⁵ say Russia and China oppose threatening Iran with sanctions, arguing that it might be counterproductive to nuclear diplomacy⁶.

At a joint⁷ press appearance with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez, Rice did not discuss terms of the proposed statement but said she and her Russian counterpart had a good conversation, and are pressing their U.N. negotiators to come up with a mutually acceptable document.

"We agreed to ask our negotiators to work again over the next couple of days, really deciding that maybe they won't even have a weekend, because we need to work on this text," said Ms. Rice.  "And we've taken into account, or the EU-Three have taken into account, comments from the Russians and Chinese, as well as comments from the United States. And I think they will turn a new draft. And at that point we hope that our negotiators can go back and see if we can agree on a draft."

The secretary said there was no disagreement among the major powers that Iran needs to abide⁹ by the February 4 resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that calls on Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing and return to negotiations.

She said it is very important, as a first order of business, that the Security Council put its weight behind the IAEA resolution to send a very clear message to Tehran that its terms need to be met.

U.S. officials see the president's statement as a first step in a diplomatic process at the Security Council that could lead to sanctions if Iran is not cooperative.

Aides to the secretary of State confirmed Friday she will visit Germany, France and Britain in a diplomatic mission beginning next Wednesday that is likely to be dominated by the Iranian nuclear issue.

The three European countries negotiated with Iran for more than two years for an accord under which Tehran would end suspect nuclear activities in exchange for trade benefits and other incentives¹⁰.

The talks broke down, with Iran announcing early this year it was ending a moratorium¹¹ on enrichment work. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is entirely¹² peaceful, though the United States says it has a secret weapons component¹³.

On a related issue, Secretary Rice said she is quite certain that Iran and the United States will hold talks on issues relating to Iraq at an appropriate time.

The Iranian government said earlier this month it had accepted in principle a long-standing U.S. offer to have talks, limited to Iraqi security issues, with the American ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad.

Rice said that with the two countries having overlapping¹⁴ interests in Iraq and with U.S. forces positioned near Iran's border, it is important that they be able to discuss their concerns and avoid miscommunication or misinformation.

The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since 1979, but officials of the two sides have had occasional meetings on issues of mutual⁸ concern, including discussions on Afghanistan when Ambassador Khalilzad was the U.S. envoy¹⁵ in Kabul.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

4 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

5 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》

6 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

9 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

10 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

12 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。

13 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。

14 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

15 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。