2006年VOA标准英语-Rice Says US Will Confront Aggressive Iran

By David Gollust
State Department
15 February 2006

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told senators Wednesday the United States will actively¹ confront what she said are the aggressive policies of the Iranian government. At the same time, she called for sharply increased U.S. spending to try to promote political freedom in that country.

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Condoleezza Rice discusses US foreign policy priorities before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Feb. 15, 2006  
  

Secretary Rice says the Bush administration will ask Congress for $75 million in supplemental money this year to increase U.S. broadcasting to Iran and other pro-democracy programs, to counter what are described here as the radical² policies of the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the secretary said Iranian activities including its nuclear program, support for regional terrorists, influence in Iraq and close ties to Syria pose what is probably the United States' biggest strategic challenge.

She said the trend is alarming not only to the United States and Europe, but also to key allies in the Middle East and will be a key issue in a trip she makes next week to the region, with stops in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

"No one wants to see a Middle East that is dominated by an Iranian hegemon, particularly one that has acquired nuclear weapons technology," she said. "And in fact, the face of Iran now, President Ahmadinejad, has crystallized the concern of the international community about Iran, because he speaks in blunter ways about Iranian ambitions than did prior Iranian governments."

On the nuclear issue, Secretary Rice said the latest Iranian steps to restart uranium enrichment and reprocessing activity have crossed a point to where Tehran is now in open defiance³ of the international community.

She said the decisions of Russia, China and India earlier this month to support referral of the matter of the U.N. Security Council amount to a major diplomatic breakthrough.

She said Undersecretary of State Nicolas Burns will try to further build a consensus⁴ for Security Council action at a Moscow meeting next week of political directors of the G-8 industrial powers.

Under questioning from senators, Rice would not be specific about potential punitive⁵ measures against Iran in the council, but said they would have to balance punishment of the Tehran government with concern for global economic stability and the interests of everyday Iranians.

"The international community is going to have to act and act decisively if Iran is to know that there's a consequence for their open defiance of the international community," she said. "And so we are working on precisely⁶ that. We want to do things that are at least in the first instance, we want to look at the effect on the international community as a whole of any actions that we take, economies and the like. But we also want to try and not hurt the Iranian people. And so I think you will se us trying to walk a fine line in what actions we take."

The administration's $75 million request for promoting Iranian democracy and human rights would be a huge increase over the $10 million already approved for the current fiscal⁷ year.

A senior administration official who briefed reporters here said the funds would go mainly to increase satellite television broadcasting to Iran by the U.S. government and private Iranian-American groups, and broadcasts of the U.S.-funded Radio Farda.

There would also be money for grants to non-governmental organizations for democracy-promotion activities in Iran, and increased opportunities for Iranian students to study in the United States.

The secretary lamented⁸ in her Senate testimony⁹ that the number of Iranians enrolled¹⁰ in U.S. schools had plummeted¹¹ from 200,000 in the 1970s to only about 2,000 today.

1 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

2 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

3 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 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。

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

8 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

10 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 plummeted   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票价格暴跌到历史最低点。
• A plane plummeted to earth. 一架飞机一头栽向地面。 来自《简明英汉词典》