伊朗核谈判期限再延7个月

John Kerry, US secretary of state, said diplomatic efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear programme had “earned the benefit of the doubt” after six major powers and Tehran gave themselves another seven months to strike a deal.

美国国务卿约翰•克里(John Kerry)表示，遏制伊朗核计划的外交努力“赢得了暂时有限的信任”。此前，参与伊朗核问题谈判的6个大国和伊朗将达成协议的最后期限再度延后7个月。

The P5+1, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, UK, France, Russia and China – and Germany, agreed to extend the so-called joint plan of action, under which the talks have taken place, until the end of June 2015 after failing to reach a deal after days of talks in Vienna.

在维也纳谈判数日后，各方仍未能达成协议，因此参与谈判的P5+1大国，即联合国安理会(UN Security Council)五个常任理事国——美国、英国、法国、俄罗斯和中国，再加上德国，同意将谈判的框架，即所谓的联合行动计划延期至2015年6月底。

Their intention is to hammer out a broad political agreement on Iran’s nuclear ambitions – and the rollback of international sanctions – within four months.

他们的意图是在4个月内就伊朗核雄心和逐步取消国际制裁等事宜敲定一项全面的政治协定。

Mr Kerry justified the extension saying the talks had “made real and substantial progress and we have seen new ideas surface”, adding: “Given how far we have come in the past year, and particularly in the past few days, this is not the time to get up and walk away.”

克里为谈判延期辩护，称谈判“已经取得切实和实质性的进展，我们看到一些新想法出现，”他补充道，“考虑到我们在过去一年中，尤其是过去几天里取得的进展，这不是一个起身离开的时机。”

With political momentum building on Capitol Hill for new sanctions against Tehran, Mr Kerry appealed for patience from the US Senate.

在美国国会内部，要求对伊朗采取新的制裁的政治势头正在蓄积，克里呼吁美国参议院保持耐心。

“I have huge respect for the prerogatives of the US Congress,” he said, “but I believe this is a moment when congress [needs to] see the wisdom of leaving us the equilibrium for a few months.”

“我非常尊敬美国国会的权利，”他说，“但我相信在眼下这个时机，国会（需要）看到，让我们保持几个月的均衡状态是明智之举。”

Philip Hammond, British foreign secretary, said the extension “does not mean that there will now be a lull in the negotiations”.

英国外交大臣菲利普•哈蒙德(Philip Hammond)表示，延期“并非意味着谈判现在会暂时搁置”。

Under the terms of the extension, Iran will continue to see about $700m of its assets unfrozen from international bank accounts every month, in return for an ongoing halt to all enrichment of uranium beyond the 5 per cent level.

根据延期条件，伊朗的国际银行账户每月会解冻7亿美元的资产，作为交换，伊朗将继续暂停5%纯度以上水平的铀浓缩。

The Vienna talks were due to end at midnight last night. But the French, German and UK foreign ministers and Mr Kerry concluded on Saturday night – over dinner at the British ambassador’s residence – that a deal was not going to happen without Tehran making an implausibly sharp turn in its negotiating position.

维也纳谈判预定的结束时间是昨日午夜。但上周六晚，法国、德国和英国外长和克里在英国大使官邸共进晚餐时得出结论，除非伊朗在谈判立场上做出令人难以置信的重大转变，否则协议将无法达成。

While new technical proposals were discussed by diplomats over the weekend, the two sides remained deadlocked on the crucial issues of the number of centrifuges Iran wants to operate and the timing of a rollback of sanctions.

尽管外交官们在周末讨论了新的技术提议，但在伊朗想要运行的离心机数量以及取消制裁的时间等关键问题上，双方依然处于僵局。

The extension of talks poses a dilemma for both sides: on the one hand, negotiators need enough time to iron out properly the unresolved issues between the two sides; on the other hand, the longer the talks are extended, the easier a target they may prove for hardliners in Iran and conservative hawks in the newly Republican-controlled US Senate.

谈判延期让双方都陷入了两难境地：一方面，谈判代表们需要足够时间妥善磨合双方仍未达成一致的问题；另一方面，谈判拖得越久，就越有可能成为伊朗强硬派和共和党控制的新一届美国参议院中的保守鹰派的靶子。

Both sides were deadlocked by fundamental disagreements that have dogged the talks since a preparatory summit in Oman at the beginning of the month.

本月初在阿曼举行的准备峰会之后，双方之间存在的根本分歧使谈判陷入僵局。