2007年VOA标准英语-Iranian Revolution Still Resonates 28 Years Aft

By Gary Thomas
Washington, DC
08 February 2007
 
watch Iran Anniversary report

On February 11th, 1979, the Iranian Revolution began.  Later that year, young Iranian revolutionaries seized the U.S. Embassy and took its employees hostage.  The United States and Iran have been bitter adversaries¹ ever since. VOA correspondent Gary Thomas looks at the Iranian Revolution and its legacy² at home and abroad.

 
Like peering at the same object through different lenses, Iran and the West -- particularly the United States -- have profoundly different views of the Iranian Revolution.

For Iranians, it is seen as the toppling of an autocratic monarch³, the Shah of Iran, who had ruled the country with the military and financial support of the United States -- and his replacement⁴ by an theocratic⁵ government led by the Ayatollah Khomenei.

For the United States, however, the revolution is inextricably linked to the takeover of the American Embassy in Tehran. Young revolutionaries stormed the compound in November of 1979 and held embassy personnel captive for 444 days. 

 
Gary Sick
Gary Sick was on the National Security Council during the revolution and hostage crisis.  He says that for the U.S., it was an initial and deeply shocking introduction to the world of Islamic fundamentalism and the nature of Islamist governments.

"It was the first major crisis that we had on television for a daily treatment of the crisis,” said Sick. “And coming into American living rooms day after day after day with fanatic⁶ students outside the American embassy shouting, 'Death to America' and waving their fists created an image of Iran -- fanatics⁷, impossible to deal with, completely uninterested in international law.  All of those things that I think now constitute a lot of Americans' working image of Iran."

Many Iranians see the revolution as more of a way of life than a single historical event. The country has gone through some profound changes over the years.  In a way, the revolution has come full circle, from Tehran and Washington ignoring each other, back to confrontation⁸.

A little more than a year after the Iranian Revolution, Iraq attacked Iran in a war that lasted eight years.  The United States backed Saddam Hussein in that conflict.   Gary Sick says the war changed the direction of the revolution.

"The revolution has taken some really interesting twists and turns. It was very dogmatic and zealous¹⁰ and fevered at the beginning of 1980s. Then when Saddam attacked and the war dragged on for eight years, Iran became much more nationalistic and much less interested in supporting the revolution. It became much more concerned about preserving its own national interests and looked like a regular country fighting a war."

Paul Pillar is a former CIA senior analyst¹¹ on the Middle East.  He took part in a recent panel discussion on Iran. He said the long, bloody¹² war fuels Iran's interest in post-Saddam Iraq to this day.

"It's not surprising that Iran would have a very strong interest in Iraq,” said Pillar. “After all, this is the country that under Saddam Hussein started a war back in 1980 that resulted in hundreds of thousands of Iranian deaths."

The West, led by the United States, insists that Iran now has ambitions to be a nuclear power as well.  Iran denies the allegation. 

Reva Bhalla is an Iran affairs analyst at the private intelligence firm Stratfor.  She says the legacy of the Iran-Iraq war is now driving Iranian ambitions, particularly in Iraq.

"Iraq used to be this Sunni hostile state against Iran, and the memories of the Iran-Iraq war are very vivid in Tehran still today,” Bhalla said. “So to be able to secure its western flank and consolidate¹³ Shiite control in the country is huge for Iran.  And to have the nuclear deterrent¹⁴ as well is really going to raise Iran to the status that it has been trying to (achieve) since the Islamic Republic (of Iran) came to be."

 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 
But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not contributed to any soothing¹⁵ of tensions between Iran and the West. The former Revolutionary Guard and Iran-Iraq war veteran refuses to bend to America's will.

There have been rumblings of a military confrontation between the U.S. and Iran, but Bush administration officials deny any such action is contemplated¹⁶. Still, it makes no secret of its desire to see political change in Iran.

Ken⁹ Katzman is a Middle East analyst at the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.  He says the possibilities of regime change appear to be slim.

"Iranian exile movements are largely discredited¹⁷ and not necessarily synchronous¹⁸ with U.S. values, and the internal opposition¹⁹ in Iran is cowed by the regime and difficult for the U.S. to make contact with.  It is also not clear that internal dissenters²⁰ such as labor²¹ unions, women, intellectuals, and students, want to replace the regime.  Many simply want to reform the regime."

Many of the revolutionary billboards²² are gone now… replaced by advertising²³. The old U.S. Embassy, though still labeled a "nest of spies,” is now a training school.  But the ghosts of the Iranian Revolution still haunt Iran's relations with the West to this day.

1 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

4 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

5 theocratic   

adj.神权的，神权政治的

参考例句：

• The priest caste wields considerable power in this rigidly theocratic society. 祭司阶层(priestcaste)在这个严格的神权社会中掌握着相当大的权力。 来自互联网
• The heartland of Islam, by contrast, is theocratic. 相反，伊斯兰教的核心地带则是神权政治。 来自互联网

6 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

7 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？

8 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

9 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

10 zealous   

adj.狂热的，热心的

参考例句：

• She made zealous efforts to clean up the classroom.她非常热心地努力清扫教室。
• She is a zealous supporter of our cause.她是我们事业的热心支持者。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

13 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

14 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

15 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

16 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

17 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

18 synchronous   

adj.同步的

参考例句：

• The message can be used only with synchronous operations.消息只能与同步操作一起使用。
• Synchronous machines do not easily fall out of step under normal conditions.在正常情况下，同步电机不易失去同步。

19 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

20 dissenters   

n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He attacked the indulgence shown to religious dissenters. 他抨击对宗教上持不同政见者表现出的宽容。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• (The dissenters would have allowed even more leeway to the Secretary.) （持异议者还会给行政长官留有更多的余地。） 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

21 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

22 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

23 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。