2006年VOA标准英语-Iran Indicates Willingness to Compromise A

By Steve Herman
Tokyo
01 March 2006

Iran says it accepts in principle a Russian offer aimed at heading off international concerns over Iran's nuclear plans, and talks between the two nations were due to resume in Moscow today. But the Iranian Foreign Minister said in Japan that the Russian proposal would remain in effect only for a short time, and that Tehran insists on the right to "large-scale" production of nuclear fuel.

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As the clock ticks towards a showdown between the international community and Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister said Iran is willing to compromise to allay¹ concerns about its nuclear activities.

Europe and the United States suspect that Iran is seeking to produce nuclear weapons, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has issued a report saying it cannot rule out that Tehran has a covert² nuclear arms program.
 

Manouchehr Mottaki  
  
Mottaki, speaking to the Japan Institute of International Affairs Wednesday, said his country's nuclear program was transparent³, and his government intended to cooperate with the IAEA.

"We have nothing to hide," he said. "We are in a position of cooperation."

The dispute centers around Iran's insistence⁴ on enriching uranium. Tehran says it intends to use the uranium only for peacetime nuclear energy generation. Russia has offered to enrich Iranian uranium on Russian soil, with international supervision⁵, as a partial way of alleviating⁶ international concerns.

Mottaki announced that Iran accepts the Russian offer in principle, but only for a limited time.

"There is the factor or element of timing," he said. "It means for how long this project will be continued? Definitely, in this item, Iran insists as short as possible."

He also insisted on Iran's basic right to enlarge, on its own, the scale of its enrichment program.

"We have our lab-scale enrichment," said Mottaki. "We insist on Iran's right for the next main step, which is large-scale, or commercial-scale enrichment for production of nuclear fuel."

The Russian-Iranian talks began in Beijing last week, but adjourned⁷ without reaching any conclusion. Tehran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, was due to lead the Iranian delegation⁸ to Moscow for resumed talks Wednesday.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  
  
As another part of Iran's campaign to win international support for its position, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmendinejad was due to visit the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur Wednesday. Malaysia is an influential⁹ Muslim country that chairs the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest grouping of Muslim nations, and has supported Tehran in its dispute with the West and the IAEA.

This week's flurry of diplomatic activity comes as the IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, prepares to meet next Monday to discuss the report on Iran. The agency could decide to forward the matter to the United Nations Security Council, which could impose sanctions against the Islamic republic.

1 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

2 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

3 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

4 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

5 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

6 alleviating   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• If it's alleviating pain,who knows what else it's doing? 如果它减轻了疼痛，天知道还影响什么？
• Measuring poverty is not the same as alleviating it, of course. 当然，衡量贫困和减轻贫困是截然不同的。

7 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。

8 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。