VOA标准英语2009年-Analysts Say Russia's Influence on Iran Very Li
时间：2019-02-06 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2009年(三月)
U.S. plans to deploy 1 a missile defense 2 system in Eastern Europe continue to be a major source of contention 3 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 radar 4 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 Mar 5 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 alleged 6 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 deploying 7 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 procurement 8 process
"To the extent that we are lessening 9 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 dealing 10 with ballistic missile defense - or BMD - in Europe was leaked at a critical time.
"Essentially 11, 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 curbs 12 on the Iranian nuclear program, thereby 13 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 precarious 14 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 curtail 15 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 petroleum 16 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 perilous 17 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 Soviet 18 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.
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。