VOA标准英语2009年-Analysts Say Russia's Influence on Iran Very Li

U.S. plans to deploy¹ a missile defense² system in Eastern Europe continue to be a major source of contention³ between the United States and Russia.

U.S. officials say the proposed missile defense system - made up of 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar⁴ station in the Czech Republic - is needed to counter potential threats from countries such as Iran. They say it is not targeted against Russia. But senior Russian officials have strongly criticized the proposed missile defense system.

The United States and the European Union believe Iran's uranium enrichment program is designed ultimately to build nuclear arms. Tehran says it only wants to use its enriched uranium for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity.
　
Russian PM Putin inspects models at ZiO-Podolsk company that supplies equipment to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, 04 Mar⁵ 2009

Experts say Russia and Iran have strong commercial ties. Moscow is one of Tehran's largest trading partners, providing it with weapons as well as consumer goods. Moscow is also building a nuclear power plant at Bushehr, in southwestern Iran. And on the political front, Moscow has been a strong supporter of Iran, opposing any tough sanctions against Tehran over its alleged⁶ nuclear weapons program.

Recent Russian and American news reports have indicated President Barack Obama - in a letter to Russian president Dmitri Medvedev - offered to back away from deploying⁷ the missile defense shield in exchange for Moscow's help in preventing Iran from developing long-range weapons.

Both presidents denied there was any deal. But in an exchange with reporters Tuesday (March 3) Mr. Obama also said:
　
Pres. Obama walks back to the White House, 04 Mar 2009, after speaking about reform of government procurement⁸ process

"To the extent that we are lessening⁹ Iran's commitment to nuclear weapons, then that reduces the pressure for or the need for a missile defense system," said the president.

Reva Bhalla with STRATFOR, an independent research organization, said Mr. Obama's letter dealing¹⁰ with ballistic missile defense - or BMD - in Europe was leaked at a critical time.

"Essentially¹¹, the United States is telling Russia - okay, we hear your concerns on BMD, now we expect you to use your relationship with Iran to place curbs¹² on the Iranian nuclear program, thereby¹³ basically undercutting the entire U.S. rationale for BMD in Europe," she said.

Bhalla says the Polish and Czech governments should be worried.

"They are in a very precarious¹⁴ situation right now and they don't like how the United States is kind of wavering on the issue - not only the Poles, but also the Baltic states who are demanding the United States take a stronger stance," Bhalla said.

On the issue of Iran, experts say whether Tehran decides to curtail¹⁵ its nuclear weapons ambitions could be based on how much pressure Russia exerts on Tehran.

Many experts, including Robert Legvold from Columbia University, say Russia's influence over Iran is limited.

"If the route chosen by the United States and Europe is to try to increase the pressure of sanctions, particularly in terms of petroleum¹⁶ and the export of refined petroleum products to Iran, then Russia would become crucial in that respect. But it's not clear that even tougher sanctions with everybody participating will force Iran's hand. So I think at the end of the day, there's a limit to how much the Russians can do in shaping Iran's choice," he said.

But Reva Bhalla from STRATFOR says the Iranians are in a very perilous¹⁷ situation right now.

"The Iranians should be feeling very nervous right now. There is really no love lost between Russia and Iran. Iran remembers really well the brief Soviet¹⁸ occupation of northern Iran during World War Two and they know that Russia's interest in Iran is really borne out of a more technical desire to demand U.S. attention on issues of strategic interest to Russians such as BMD or NATO expansion," she said.

Experts say in the weeks and months ahead, it will be interesting to see whether the new Obama administration will be able to change Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions - with or without Russia's help.

1 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。

2 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。

3 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

4 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。

5 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

8 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

9 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 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。

12 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

13 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

14 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

15 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

16 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

17 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

18 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。