伊朗当局扣押10名美国海军人员

The crews of two US Navy vessels were picked up by the Iranian authorities in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, setting up a new source of friction between Washington and Tehran just days before last year’s landmark nuclear agreement is due to be implemented.

周二，两艘驶入波斯湾的美国海军舰艇上的船员被伊朗当局扣押，在去年达成的具有里程碑意义的核协议即将执行的前几天，引发了美国和伊朗之间新的摩擦。

US officials said they expected the sailors to be released soon but were scrambling for more information about the incident which was revealed just hours before President Barack Obama’s last State of the Union address.

美国官员表示，他们预计船员将很快获释，但竭力要求伊朗提供有关此次事件的更多信息。此事是在美国总统巴拉克攠巴马(Barack Obama)将发表最后一次国情咨文的几个小时之前披露出来的。

The incident comes as the administration was already facing pressure from Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran over two ballistic missile tests conducted last year.

事件发生之际，美国政府已在面临国会的压力，要求针对伊朗去年试射两枚弹道导弹之事对该国实行新制裁。

US officials said it appeared the small vessels may have entered Iranian waters after one experienced mechanical difficulties. There were 10 crew members on board the two high-speed patrol boats which had been travelling from Kuwait to Bahrain.

美国官员表示，情况看来是这样：两艘小型舰艇或许是在其中一艘发生机械故障之后驶入伊朗海域的。这两艘从科威特驶向巴林的高速巡逻艇上共有10名船员。

Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, said that the Iranians “have assured us that our sailors are safe and that they’ll be allowed to continue their journey promptly”. Speaking on CNN, he said Mr Obama would contact members of Congress about the incident.

白宫发言人乔希欧内斯特(Josh Earnest)表示，伊朗“已向我们保证，被扣船员是安全的，他们将很快释放船员，让船员继续原来的行程”。他在美国有线电视网(CNN)上表示，奥巴马将联系国会议员，讨论该事件。

the Iranian Fars news agency said that the two vessels had been detained after they had “illegally” entered Iranian waters near Farsi island in the Persian Gulf. It also said that the ships were seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards rather than the Iranian Navy.

伊朗Fars通讯社表示，这两艘舰艇被扣押，是因为他们“非法”进入了波斯湾法尔斯岛(Farsi Island)附近的伊朗海域。该社还表示，扣押这两艘舰艇的是伊朗革命卫队(Iranian Revolutionary Guards)，而不是伊朗海军。

The incident comes after the Pentagon said in late December an Iranian vessel fired rockets near US warships in the area. In 2007, 15 British sailors were held for nearly two weeks after the Revolutionary Guards intercepted their vessels.

事件发生之前，美国在去年12月末表示，一艘伊朗舰艇在上述海域靠近美国战舰的位置发射了火箭。2007年，15名英国海员的舰船被伊朗革命卫队拦截之后，他们被扣押了近两周时间。

The new tension with Iran comes ahead of an expected vote on Wednesday in the House of Representatives on a bill that would prevent the administration from lifting sanctions under the nuclear deal for any Iranian bank with known ties to terrorist groups or the country’s ballistic missile programme.

如今美伊关系再度紧张。周三，美国众议院预计将就一份法案进行投票。该法案将阻止美国政府对任何一家已知跟恐怖组织或该国弹道导弹计划有联系的银行根据核协议解除制裁。

The White House has threatened to veto the bill, arguing that it would scupper the nuclear agreement with Iran.

美国白宫已威胁否决该法案，并辩称，该法案将推翻与伊朗达成的核协议。

However, leading Democrats have also publicly criticised the White House for not doing more to counter Iran over recent tests of ballistic missiles. Some have proposed their own sanctions legislation which they say would put pressure on Iran while staying within the bounds of the nuclear agreement.

然而，主要民主党人士也已公开谴责白宫，在伊朗最近试射弹道导弹之后没有采取更多措施遏制伊朗。有些人提出了自己的制裁法案，他们表示，该法案将向伊朗施加压力，但又不会超出核协议的边界。