伊朗當局扣押10名美國海軍人員
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.
週二，兩艘駛入波斯灣的美國海軍艦艇上的船員被伊朗當局扣押，在去年達成的具有里程碑意義的核協議即將執行的前幾天，引發了美國和伊朗之間新的摩擦。
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.
美國官員表示，他們預計船員將很快獲釋，但竭力要求伊朗提供有關此次事件的更多信息。此事是在美國總統巴拉克攠巴馬(Barack Obama)將發表最後一次國情諮文的幾個小時之前披露出來的。
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.
事件發生之際，美國政府已在面臨國會的壓力，要求針對伊朗去年試射兩枚彈道導彈之事對該國實行新制裁。
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.
美國官員表示，情況看來是這樣：兩艘小型艦艇或許是在其中一艘發生機械故障之後駛入伊朗海域的。這兩艘從科威特駛向巴林的高速巡邏艇上共有10名船員。
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.
白宮發言人喬希歐內斯特(Josh Earnest)表示，伊朗“已向我們保證，被扣船員是安全的，他們將很快釋放船員，讓船員繼續原來的行程”。他在美國有線電視網(CNN)上表示，奧巴馬將聯繫國會議員，討論該事件。
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通訊社表示，這兩艘艦艇被扣押，是因爲他們“非法”進入了波斯灣法爾斯島(Farsi Island)附近的伊朗海域。該社還表示，扣押這兩艘艦艇的是伊朗革命衛隊(Iranian Revolutionary Guards)，而不是伊朗海軍。
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.
事件發生之前，美國在去年12月末表示，一艘伊朗艦艇在上述海域靠近美國戰艦的位置發射了火箭。2007年，15名英國海員的艦船被伊朗革命衛隊攔截之後，他們被扣押了近兩週時間。
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.
如今美伊關係再度緊張。週三，美國衆議院預計將就一份法案進行投票。該法案將阻止美國政府對任何一家已知跟恐怖組織或該國彈道導彈計劃有聯繫的銀行根據核協議解除制裁。
The White House has threatened to veto the bill, arguing that it would scupper the nuclear agreement with Iran.
美國白宮已威脅否決該法案，並辯稱，該法案將推翻與伊朗達成的核協議。
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，主要民主黨人士也已公開譴責白宮，在伊朗最近試射彈道導彈之後沒有采取更多措施遏制伊朗。有些人提出了自己的制裁法案，他們表示，該法案將向伊朗施加壓力，但又不會超出核協議的邊界。
