VOA标准英语2010年-Iran Frees Some Detainees in New Year

The Iranian government has released a handful of detainees, including several prominent journalists, according to opposition¹ Web sites.  At the same time, the official Fars News agency reports two reformist newspapers, Etemaad and Irandokht, have been shut down.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders announced journalists Abdolreza Tajik, Behrang Tonkaboni, Rozbeh Karimi, Ali Hekmet, and Mashaallah Shamsolvaezin were released after weeks of incarceration².  Shamsolvaezin is the spokesman of the Iranian Journalists Association.

Top Tehran prosecutor³ Abbas Jafaar Doulatabadi promised Sunday that many opposition detainees would be released for the Iranian new year Nowrouz, but warned of severe consequences for those that do not cooperate.

Another journalist and a blogger were also arrested in recent days, according to Reporters Without Borders, while two others received six-year prison sentences.

Opposition Web site Rah-e-Sabz also writes the government is calling for former prisoners to submit to new interrogations, in which they will be forced to admit to wrongdoing.  Those "admissions," it says, will later be published.

Analyst⁴ Mehrdad Khonsari of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London says the Iranian government believes it gained the upper hand after a February 11 rally marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution:

"With the [Iranian] new year coming up, it is their strategy to finely balance the carrot-and-stick approach and consolidate⁵ the kind of gains that they thought they had made on February 11 by appealing to the public and showing leniency⁶, but at the same time making it quite clear that they are not willing to tolerate further breaches⁷ of discipline," he noted⁸.

Alex Vatanka of Janes' Defense⁹ Analyst concurs¹⁰ with Khonsari, noting it is difficult to see any clear plan of attack in the approach of the Iranian government towards the opposition:

"I think it is kind of difficult to, at this stage, reach the conclusion that this hard-line faction¹¹ that is currently running the state in Iran is in possession of some sort of blueprint¹² about where to go from here," said Vatanka.  "Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad are saying 'come with us, stay within the Islamic Republic fold, and we will be lenient¹³, and if you do not bad things will happen to you.'"

The Iranian parliament, meanwhile, is reported to be continuing its investigation¹⁴ of previous government crackdowns, amid lingering anger over reports of the abuse of prisoners at the Kahrizak detention¹⁵ center, and the ransacking¹⁶ of student dormitories at Tehran University.  A recent video shown by the BBC of student dormitories being attacked has reportedly ignited further outrage¹⁷.
 

1 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。

2 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 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。

5 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。

6 leniency   

n.宽大（不严厉）

参考例句：

• udges are advised to show greater leniency towards first-time offenders.建议法官对初犯者宽大处理。
• Police offer leniency to criminals in return for information.警方给罪犯宽大处理以换取情报。

7 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

8 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。

9 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。

10 concurs   

同意（concur的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Gilardi concurs that the newly compiled data is a powerful tool. 吉拉迪认同新汇集的数据是一个强有力的工具。
• Curtin concurs that it's been a blessing and a reward. 柯廷也同意这是一种祝福和奖励。

11 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

12 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

13 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 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。

16 ransacking   

v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 )；抢劫，掠夺

参考例句：

• She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present. 她正在彻底搜寻各家店铺，为吉姆买礼物。 来自英汉文学 - 欧亨利
• Ransacking the drawers of the dresser he came upon a discarded, tiny, ragged handkerchief. 他打开橱柜抽屉搜寻，找到了一块弃置的小旧手帕。 来自辞典例句

17 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。