VOA标准英语2008年-Russia: Iran's Current Missile Range Too Short

The United States and Russia continue sparring over a Central European missile defense¹ system, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says America is committed to protecting its allies from a possible Iranian missile attack, and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, claiming Tehran's missiles do not have sufficient range to justify² the controversial system. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky has this report from the Russian capital.
　
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (file photo)

Asked at a Moscow news conference about this week's Iranian missile tests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said negotiations³ were the only way to resolve the dispute over Tehran's potential missile threat. Lavrov again rejected a U.S. proposal to deploy⁴ a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic to guard against a possible Iranian offensive.

The Russian foreign minister says the tests showed that Iran has missiles with a 2,000 kilometer range, confirming what Russia said earlier, that the idea to deploy a Central European missile system is not needed to monitor and react to these particular missiles.

Lavrov spoke⁵ at a news conference in Moscow with his visiting Jordanian counterpart, Salaheddin Bashir. The Kremlin considers the Central European system a threat to Russian security.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a deal Tuesday in Prague to build a radar⁶ monitoring station in the Czech Republic as part of the system opposed by Moscow. Speaking in Tbilisi, Georgia Thursday, Secretary Rice said the United States would defend its allies.

"We take very, very strongly our obligation to help our allies defend themselves, and no one should be confused about that," she said. "We also are able to look to the future of a missile defense system that will make it more difficult for Iran to threaten and be bellicose⁷ and say terrible things, because their missiles won't work."

Iran reported the test firing of several missile types Wednesday and Thursday, including its single-stage Shahab-3 missile. The weapon's purported⁸ 2,000 kilometer range could reach Israel and other U.S. allies in the Middle East and South Asia.

Independent Russian military analyst⁹ Pavel Felgenhauer told VOA that Iran could develop two-stage missile technology in five to ten years, increasing Tehran's range by thousands of kilometers and allowing it to hit targets in Western Europe. Felgenhauer says dozens of countries besides Russia and the United States have it, including Israel, India, and Japan.
　
Photo released on online service of Iranian daily Jamejam shows three missiles rising into the air as a fourth remains¹⁰ in the launcher, 09 Jul 2008

The analyst says two-stage technology is 50 years old. Iran would need to solve certain technical problems, but others have done it and the information is available. He adds that two-stage rockets also allow payloads to be launched into low earth orbit, and that Iran is clearly capable of solving the problem.

The United States suspects Tehran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon under cover of a civilian¹¹ nuclear energy program. Moscow has helped Iran build its nuclear reactor¹² at Bushehr and has been supplying the facility with nuclear fuel.

 

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

7 bellicose   

adj.好战的；好争吵的

参考例句：

• He expressed alarm about the government's increasingly bellicose statements.他对政府越来越具挑衅性的声明表示担忧。
• Some irresponsible politicians made a bellicose remarks.一些不负责任的政客说出一些好战的话语。

8 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 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。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。