奧巴馬爲伊朗核協議強力辯護

Barack Obama forcefully defended his Iranian nuclear deal on Wednesday by saying it blocked all paths for Tehran to develop an atomic weapon and challenging critics in Congress to justify their assertions that the historic accord would empower Iran and damage US national security.

週三，美國總統巴拉克攠巴馬(Barack Obama)爲他促成的伊朗核協議進行了強力辯護。他表示，該協議堵住了伊朗開發核武器的全部路徑。美國國會中的一些批評人士認爲，這一歷史性協議將使伊朗變得更強大並損害美國國家安全。奧巴馬對此表示，希望這些人拿出證據來。

Mr Obama rejected criticism that the deal would weaken the US, saying at a press conference that the alternative was Iran moving closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon, further increasing the risk of a regional nuclear arms race and a “greater risk of war”.

奧巴馬拒絕接受有關該協議將弱化美國的批評。他在記者會上表示，如果達不成協議，伊朗將進一步走向擁核，進一步加大該地區的核軍備競賽風險，並引發“更大的戰爭風險”。

“That is the choice that we face. If we don’t choose wisely, I believe future generations will judge us harshly,” Mr Obama said.

“那正是我們面臨的選擇。如果我們不做出明智的選擇，我相信，未來幾代人將嚴厲地指責我們，”奧巴馬錶示。

In a performance that was aimed at the American public and their representatives in Congress, the president urged people not to “lose sight of the larger picture” and to understand that it was a “historic chance . . . that may not come again in our lifetimes”.

在一場面向美國民衆及國會議員的講話中，這位美國總統敦促人們不要“失去大局觀”，要明白這是一次“歷史性機遇……我們有生之年或許不會再出現的機遇”。

Mr Obama dismissed claims that he should have pushed for a broader agreement that tackled Iran’s nuclear programme and strove to end its support for terrorist groups in the Middle East. He said the US and its negotiating partners — France, the UK, China, Russia and Germany — had built a consensus around a “narrow but profound issue” that was preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

有人認爲，奧巴馬本應當推動達成一項更廣泛的協議，不但要解決伊朗核計劃的問題，還要努力終止伊朗在中東對恐怖主義組織的支持。奧巴馬對這種說法未予理會。他說，美國及其談判夥伴——法國、英國、中國、俄羅斯和德國——已就一個“有限但深遠的問題”達成共識，這個問題就是如何阻止伊朗獲得核武器。

“I can say with confidence . . . that Iran will not be in a position to develop a nuclear bomb,” said Mr Obama. “We will have met our number one priority.”

“我可以充滿信心地說……伊朗將無法開發核彈，”奧巴馬說，“我們完成了我們的頭號任務。”

He said the US would still have fundamental disagreements with Iran despite the deal, and stressed that the US was not preparing to normalise diplomatic relations with Tehran. But he said he hoped the accord would spark “conservations with Iran that incentivise them to behave differently in the region — to be less aggressive, less hostile, more co-operative . . . but we are not counting on it”.

他說，儘管達成了這份協議，但美國與伊朗仍存在根本性分歧。他強調稱，美國並不準備與伊朗實現外交關係正常化。但他也表示，希望該協議能促成“與伊朗的對話，鼓勵他們在該地區換一套做法——不那麼咄咄逼人，不那麼敵對，更樂於合作……但我們不指望他們能做到”。

Critics in Congress, including many Republicans and some Democrats,and all the Republican presidential candidates, have expressed concern that the agreement removes UN-related sanctions on Iran obtaining arms and ballistic missile technology after a number of years. Mr Obama defended that component of the deal, saying that the US would still maintain unilateral sanctions and create stronger detection mechanisms to prevent Iran from shipping arms to groups such as Hizbollah.

美國國會內的批評者（包括許多共和黨人和一些民主黨人）以及所有共和黨總統候選人，都表示擔心數年後這份協議會令防止伊朗獲得軍火和彈道導彈技術的聯合國(UN)相關制裁失效。奧巴馬對該協議的這方面內容進行了辯護，稱美國仍將維持單邊制裁，並建立更強大的監測機制，以防止伊朗向黎巴嫩真主黨(Hizbollah)等組織輸送軍火。

“Our goal was to prevent Iran from nuclear weapons capability, but that shifted to increasing the time it would take Iran to ‘break out’and build a bomb,” said John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio who next week is expected to enter the presidential race. “We have seen the same goals frustrated in the cases of Pakistan and North Korea and now both have nuclear weapons. Is the Obama administration’s goal just to postpone the inevitable?”

“我們的目標曾是防止伊朗獲得製造核武器的能力，但後來卻變成了讓伊朗更晚一些‘取得突破’和造出核彈。”共和黨人、俄亥俄州州長約翰慍罓奇(John Kasich)說，“我們已經看到，同樣的目標並沒有在巴基斯坦和朝鮮身上成功實現，這兩個國家如今都有了核武器。奧巴馬政府的目標僅僅是推遲不可避免之結局嗎？”預計下週卡西奇將加入總統競選角逐。

Congress must vote on the deal within two months following a measure passed this year to give the legislature a greater say in a landmark agreement that would pave the way for better relations between countries that have had hostile ties for more than three decades.

美國國會必須在兩個月內就伊朗核協議進行投票表決。今年早些時候，美國通過了一項措施，在達成一項爲改善美伊關係鋪平道路的里程碑式協議方面，授予國會更大的發言權。美伊兩國陷入敵對關係已逾30年。