2006年VOA标准英语-Official Repeats US Call for Sanctions Against

By Richard Green
Washington
06 September 2006

The United States says it will take hard diplomatic work for the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran for its failure to suspend nuclear enrichment activities.

-----

Back in July, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that called on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program by August 31. Iran ignored the deadline, and on Wednesday, postponed¹ a meeting in Vienna with officials with the European Union.  
 

Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph told reporters in Washington the time has come to impose sanctions on Tehran.

"Iran continues to deny the IAEA access to facilities, individuals and to documents necessary to conduct the investigation," said Robert Joseph. "New questions raised about Iran's nuclear program have simply not been resolved, and the bottom line is that the IAEA is unable to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program."

Joseph said it would be intolerable if the United States and the international community allowed Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

"With nuclear weapons, Tehran would be more aggressive in its support for terror, and its subversion² for peace and stability in Lebanon, in Iraq, in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region," he said.

Joseph said Iran's possession of nuclear weapons would threaten the very existence of Israel, and trigger a nuclear arms race in the region that would threaten the future of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

He says despite the intelligence reports that Iran will not actually possess a nuclear weapon until at least the end of this decade, it is vital to prevent Tehran from developing the know-how³.

"If we are talking about stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, we have to be able to stop them from acquiring the expertise⁴, acquiring the technologies, that will lead them to a nuclear weapons capability," continued Robert Joseph.

Joseph says Nicholas Burns, the under-secretary of state for political affairs, will meet with officials from Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the standoff.

Russia and China have advocated a slow approach to sanction, preferring diplomacy⁵ instead, but the United States sees U.N. sanctions a part of the diplomatic effort.

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 subversion   

n.颠覆，破坏

参考例句：

• He was arrested in parliament on charges of subversion for organizing the demonstration.他因组织示威活动在议会上被以颠覆破坏罪名逮捕。
• It had a cultural identity relatively immune to subversion from neighboring countries.它的文化同一性使它相对地不易被邻国所颠覆。

3 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

4 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

5 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。