2007年VOA标准英语-Revolutionary Guard Wields Power Inside and Out

By Gary Thomas
Washington
17 April 2007

Recent events in the Middle East have put the spotlight¹ on Iran's Revolutionary Guard.  Guard naval² units seized 15 British service personnel in the waters of the Persian Gulf³ last month, and Revolutionary Guard agents have been accused of aiding insurgents⁵ and terrorist groups in Iraq and Lebanon.  VOA correspondent Gary Thomas gives us a look at the Revolutionary Guard and its role inside and outside Iran.

elite6 Revolutionary Guards stand guard at the site of Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, 300 km south of capital Tehran, Iran 9 April 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070531/1128340.jpg" width="209" vspace="2" border="0" />

Iranian elite Revolutionary Guards stand guard at the site of Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, 300 km south of capital Tehran, Iran 9 April 2007

According to Western analysts⁸, the Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran) runs businesses, maintains its own ground and sea forces separate from the regular army and navy, mounts foreign and domestic intelligence operations, and has become a major player on Iran's political landscape.

The Revolutionary Guard was born in the tumult⁹ surrounding the Islamic Revolution 28 years ago.  Mohsen Sazegara, who accompanied Ayatollah Khomeini on his return to Iran in 1979, said the new revolutionary government did not entirely¹⁰ trust the regular armed forces, and also feared attack from the United States.  So, Sazegara says, he was given the task of forming a kind of people's militia¹¹ to protect the revolution.

"I remember, in those days, I studied the model of the National Guard of the United States, the Swiss Army, the peoples' army of Switzerland, and the army of Israel and the Viet Cong in Vietnam - the models of how we can mobilize the ordinary people to defend the country - in any case, to help the regular army of the country," he said.

After Saddam Hussein attacked Iran in 1980, poorly armed, but fiercely zealous¹² Revolutionary Guard units threw themselves in the front lines of attack.  In the years following, the Revolutionary Guard grew into a highly disciplined and deeply ideological¹³ military force.  Many analysts estimate the guards number about 125,000 in air, land, sea and intelligence units.

Mohsen Sazegara left Iran in 2003, after being imprisoned¹⁴ for dissident views. He now lectures at Harvard University. He says the Revolutionary Guard's power has grown enormously, and it now dabbles¹⁵ in politics and gets lucrative¹⁶ business contracts from the government.

"Now, the Revolutionary Guard has been converted into a kind of organization, a kind of government inside the government of Iran,” he noted¹⁷.  “They are like the KGB, because they have a secret service, as well.  They are like the Red Army, they are like the Communist Party, and they are like a complex of companies, as well."

The current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a Guard veteran of the Iran-Iraq war.  Some analysts attribute his 2005 election to active intercession by the Basiij, the nearly one-million-person strong domestic volunteer militia under Guard control.  It is known for enforcing ideological purity. One analyst⁷ likens the Basiij to the Red Guard in the days of Mao Zedong's China.

But Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says Ahmadinejad's past ties with the Guard do not necessarily mean he controls it.

"The Revolutionary Guards are increasingly a very powerful force in Iran,” he explained.  “They have tremendous economic interests and assets.  They are very active on the political scene, and they are essentially¹⁸ running Iranian activities in Lebanon and Iraq.  But Revolutionary Guards are under the constitutional authority of Supreme¹⁹ Leader Ayatollah Khamenei."

The Guard's foreign operations arm is known as the Quds force.  U.S. Lieutenant²⁰ General Ray Odierno, commander of multinational²¹ forces in Iraq, says Quds force agents provide training and arms, including deadly roadside bombs, to Iraqi insurgents to attack U.S. forces.

"I would say, though, it is clear that they continue to interfere²², the Quds Force continues to attempt to interfere in Iraqi, in operations inside of Iraq,” he said.  “We continue to intercept²³ weapons. We know there's money that's flowing in from Iran to certain insurgent⁴ groups in Iraq, and we will continue to work through this."

In January, U.S. forces detained five Iranians in northern Iraq.  The U.S. says they are Quds force operatives; Iran says they are diplomats²⁴.  Many analysts believe the U.S. detention²⁵ of the Iranians was at least one cause of the Iranian seizure²⁶ of the British sailors.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

7 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。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 tumult   

n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹

参考例句：

• The tumult in the streets awakened everyone in the house.街上的喧哗吵醒了屋子里的每一个人。
• His voice disappeared under growing tumult.他的声音消失在越来越响的喧哗声中。

10 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。

11 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

12 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。

13 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

14 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

15 dabbles   

v.涉猎( dabble的第三人称单数 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资

参考例句：

• He dabbles in local politics. 他开始涉足地方政坛。
• She dabbles in painting as a hobby. 她学点绘画作为业余爱好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

19 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

20 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

21 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

22 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

23 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

24 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》

25 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

26 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。