From The Times
September 22, 2007
Bush may bypass UN with tough sanctions against Iran
Tom Baldwin in Washington
President Bush is prepared to bypass the United Nations and instead work with European allies on imposing tougher sanctions against Iran’s defiant stance on its nuclear programme.
He is understood to be increasingly frustrated by the snail-pace progress of four months-long talks with Russia and China over punishing Tehran for failing to comply with successive Security Council resolutions. The west fears that Iran’s avowed determination to secure nuclear energy is cover for pursuit of a military programme.
But, even as officials from the US, Russia, China, France Britain and Germany met in Washington today to consider the next steps, diplomats admitted that America and the three European powers might be forced to “go it alone”.
Such a decision would represent a significant crack in the united front the world has so far presented to Iran. It would also be seen as evidence of the tensions within the Bush administration over how far the US will follow the diplomatic route rather take a military option - which hawks have determinedly kept “on the table”.
Although the US already employs a full range of economic sanctions against Iran, Washington has repeatedly pressed European banks and energy companies to cease investing in a state it lists as a state sponsor of terrorism. Firms that could be hard hit include the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, which is considering a multi-billion pound project in Iran to produce natural gas.
The new French government of Nicolas Sarkozy has been particularly receptive to calls for further sanctions in recent weeks. A spokesman for the French president said agreement on further UN sanctions “could take time for this reason we are thinking of additional measures”.
Britain and - to a lesser extent - Germany, are also sympathetic, but remain more marginally optimistic than the US about securing progress when ministers to the UN General Assembly next week.
Mr Bush insisted on Thursday that “the objective, of course, is to solve this peacefully,” adding: “It’s imperative that we continue to work in a multilateral fashion...and one place to do so is at the United Nations.” But Russia and China have made clear they are opposed to additional UN sanctions that Iran has promised to answer unresolved questions about its past nuclear programmes by the end of the year.
Vitaliy Churkin, Russia’s UN ambassador, said today: “One can impose sanctions almost every day but this won’t bring the resolution of the problem closer.” But US officials point out that by the end of this year Iran could have installed many more centrifuges at its Natanz plant used for uranium enrichment.
Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of state, said today: “A number of companies are not going to deal with Iran. And I think it is extremely important that governments signal .that it is not business as usual.” Speculation that the US could be planning airstrikes to destroy the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz has been heightened by Israel’s bombing on September 6 of a suspected nuclear site in Syria.
The Washington Post reported today that Israel’s decision to attack as based on intelligence shared with the US that North Korea may have been assisting Syria - a country linked with Iran - fulfil its nuclear ambitions.
Details of the operation remain shrouded in deep secrecy. Mr Bush’s refusal on it to comment this week has been attributed to his concern about undermining long-running negotiations designed to persuade North Korea to scrap its own nuclear programme.
But the mystery may also reflect acute sensitivity among Washington’s neo-conservatives about the wisdom of pursuing diplomatic solutions with states such as North Korea and Iran - both of which were once branded part of the “axis of evil” by Mr Bush.
British officials, however, insist that persistent reports about US military plans for an airstrike against Iran are being cooked up “by Sunday newspaper journalists who can get retired generals and think tank people to say whatever they want”.
Sir David Manning, Britain’s ambassador to Washington, told The Times that he has detected no sign from the US Administration “at the moment” that they are “near to abandoning the diplomatic route”.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president who is flying to New York tomorrow for the UN meeting, has already been stirring trouble by threatening to pay a visit to the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.
Today he expressed amazement at a decision by New York police to refuse him access to the site. One official commented: “This is typical of the Iranians, they will do everything they can to grab the headlines and split us all up.”
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vocabulary
title
bypass: 旁路
sanctions: 制裁
1
instead: 代替; 抵作; 反而
allies: 盟邦; 盟國
defiant: 挑釁的; 目中無人的
stance: 準備擊球姿勢; 踏腳處; 位置; 姿態
2
frustrated: 坎坷
snail: 蝸牛; 腦筋遲鈍的人; 凸狀渦形輪; 螺; 螄; 蝓
Tehran: 德黑蘭
diplomats[countable]
1 someone who officially represents their government in a foreign country.
French diplomats
2 someone who is good at dealing with people without upsetting them
admittedpast tense and past participle admitted, present participle admitting
1accept truth [intransitive and transitive] to agree unwillingly that something is true or that someone else is right:
'Okay, so maybe I was a little bit scared,' Jenny admitted.
admit (that)
You may not like her, but you have to admit that she's good at her job.
admit to somebody (that)
Paul admitted to me that he sometimes feels jealous of my friendship with Stanley.
I must admit, I didn't actually do anything to help her.
Admit it! I'm right, aren't I?
admit (to) doing something
Dana admitted feeling hurt by what I had said.
freely/openly/frankly etc admit (=admit without being ashamed)
Phillips openly admits to having an alcohol problem.
2accept blame [intransitive and transitive] to say that you have done something wrong, especially something criminal [= confess; ≠ deny]
admit doing something
Greene admitted causing death by reckless driving.
admit to (doing) something
A quarter of all workers admit to taking time off when they are not ill.
After questioning, he admitted to the murder.
No organization has admitted responsibility for the bombing.
3allow to enter [transitive] to allow someone to enter a public place to watch a game, performance etc [↪ admittance, admission]
admit somebody to/into something
Only ticket-holders will be admitted into the stadium.
4allow to join [transitive] to allow someone to join an organization, club etc
admit somebody to/into something
Drake was admitted into the club in 1997.
5hospital [transitive] if people at a hospital admit someone, that person is taken in to be given treatment, tests, or care:
What time was she admitted?
be admitted to hospital British English /be admitted to the hospital American English
6 admit defeat to stop trying to do something because you realize you cannot succeed:
For Haskill, selling the restaurant would be admitting defeat.
7 admit evidence to allow a particular piece of evidence to be used in a court of law:
Courts can refuse to admit evidence obtained illegally by police.
admit of something phrasal verb
if a situation admits of a particular explanation, that explanation can be accepted as possible:
The facts admit of no other explanation.
represent1 speak for somebody [transitive] to officially speak or take action for another person or group of people:
2 in court [transitive] to speak officially for someone in a court of law
represent yourself
3 be something [linking verb] to form or be something [↪ amount to]:
government [transitive]PGP to have been elected to a parliament, council etc by the people in a particular area:
5 sign [transitive] to be a sign or mark that means something [= stand for]:
significant
1 having an important effect or influence, especially on what will happen in the future [≠ insignificant]:
2 large enough to be noticeable or have noticeable effects [≠ insignificant]:
3 a significant look, smile etc has a special meaning that is not known to everyone:
diplomatic
1 PGO relating to or involving the work of diplomats:
2PG diplomatic relations/ties the arrangement between two countries that each should keep representatives at an embassy in the other's country
3 dealing with people politely and skilfully without upsetting them
route
1 a way from one place to another
2 a way between two places that buses, planes, ships etc regularly travel
3 a way of doing something or achieving a particular result
4 (Route 66/54 ) used to show the number of a main road in the US
military
1 used by, involving, or relating to the army, navy, or airforce:
2 with military precision if you do something with military precision, you do it in a very organized and exact way:
cease
{verb}
1 (formal) to stop doing something or stop happening
- cease to do something
- cease doing something
- cease trading/production/operations etc
2 cease and desist (law) to stop doing something
{noun}(formal) without stopping
sponsor
{noun}
1
a) a person or company that pays for a show, broadcast, sports event etc especially in exchange for the right to advertise at that event
b) a person or company that supports someone by paying for their training, education, living costs etc
2 someone who agrees to give someone else money for a charity if they walk, run etc a particular distance
3 someone who officially introduces or supports a proposal for a new law
4 someone who officially agrees to help someone else, or to be responsible for what they do:
{verb}
1
a) to give money to a sports event, theatre, institution etc, especially in exchange for the right to advertise:
b) to support someone by paying for their training, education, living costs etc:
2 to officially support a proposal for a new law
3 to agree to help someone or be responsible for what they do
4 to agree to give someone money for charity if they walk, run etc a particular distance
5 an event in which many people walk, swim etc a particular distance so that people will give them money for a charity
6 supported and encouraged by the UN, the US etc:
- UN-sponsored/US-sponsored/government-sponsored etc
charity {noun}
terrorism
{noun}
the use of violence such as bombing, shooting, or kidnapping to obtain political demands such as making a government do something:
- combat terrorism
- act of terrorism
- international terrorism
giant
{noun} [C]
1 an imaginary creature like a man but extremely tall, strong and usually very cruel, appearing especially in children's storiesSee also gigantic.
2 someone who is unusually tall or large
3 a very successful and powerful person or organization:
{adjective}
extremely large
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資料來源http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2485358.ece
自從經濟部在將御宅族擺在消費一族時，已然敲醒了御宅族的喪鐘。
