2016年12月大学英语四级听力在线练习(85)
"http://library.koolearn.com/news/swf/mp3player.swfOpponents of Iran Nuclear Deal Urge Trump to Keep It
伊朗核协议反对者督促特朗普保持住
President-elect Donald Trump is being urged not to withdraw the United
States from the international nuclear agreement with Iran.
Members of Trump’s Republican Party and other opponents are saying it is
better to keep the existing agreement and try to improve it.
Trump strongly criticized the nuclear agreement during his presidential
campaign. He called it a “disaster” and the “worst deal ever negotiated.”
During a speech to a pro-Israel group in March, Trump said as president, he
would seek to end “the disastrous deal with Iran.”
However, Iran and U.S. allies in Europe have urged the new administration
to honor the agreement. The deal was signed by Iran and six world powers in July
2015. It eased economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on Tehran’s
nuclear program.
Iran has rejected calls to renegotiate the agreement. Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged Trump last week to honor the deal, saying it
was not an agreement "for one side to be able to scrap.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took a lead role in negotiating the
agreement and called it “the good deal we had sought.” But many Republicans in
the U.S. Congress have been highly critical of it.
The deal was created as a political commitment rather than a treaty. The
United Nations Security Council resolution that approved it does not require its
members to accept it. Legal experts say this means the new administration could
simply take no action if it chooses to do so.
Edward Swaine is a law professor at George Washington University and a
former legal adviser to the U.S. State Department. He said the U.S. would not
face any direct international legal consequences if it decided to pull out of
the agreement.
However, some opponents in Congress have changed earlier opinions that the
agreement should be canceled. They are now calling for tighter sanctions on Iran
and for the agreement to be strictly enforced.
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. He said this week he does not think “tearing up the agreement” is the
right thing to do. He told reporters Monday he thinks Washington should work
with its allies to enforce the existing agreement without negotiating a new
deal.
“To me the best route for the new president to handle this is to push back
on the violations that are taking place today,” Corker was quoted by the Times
Free Pressnewspaper as saying.
Corker said the nuclear deal made it possible for Iran to get back
“billions of dollars” of money seized by the U.S. He added that over time, the
agreement means Iran could “end up in a much stronger position than they were in
the beginning.”
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a conservative research
organization in Washington D.C., agrees. The group was an early supporter of a
"stop the Iran nuclear deal" campaign and urged members of Congress to block the
deal. However, the group now opposes canceling it.
Orde Kittrie is a senior fellow at the foundation. He says if the U.S.
withdrew from the deal, Iran would feel free to ignore the restrictions on its
nuclear program. He said it would also be very hard to bring back sanctions if
the agreement is renegotiated.
I’m Bryan Lynn.
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Words in This Story
worst – adj. the least useful, helpful or appropriate way
sanctions – n. restrictions imposed on a country as a way to try to get it
to obey international laws
scrap – v. get rid of something
consequences - n. actions that happen as a result of a set of
conditions
route - n. way of doing or achieving something
foundation – n. organization created and supported with money to help
various causes
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