伊朗核談判期限再延7個月

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.

美國國務卿約翰•克里(John Kerry)表示，遏制伊朗核計劃的外交努力“贏得了暫時有限的信任”。此前，參與伊朗核問題談判的6個大國和伊朗將達成協議的最後期限再度延後7個月。

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.

在維也納談判數日後，各方仍未能達成協議，因此參與談判的P5+1大國，即聯合國安理會(UN Security Council)五個常任理事國——美國、英國、法國、俄羅斯和中國，再加上德國，同意將談判的框架，即所謂的聯合行動計劃延期至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.

他們的意圖是在4個月內就伊朗核雄心和逐步取消國際制裁等事宜敲定一項全面的政治協定。

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.”

克里爲談判延期辯護，稱談判“已經取得切實和實質性的進展，我們看到一些新想法出現，”他補充道，“考慮到我們在過去一年中，尤其是過去幾天裏取得的進展，這不是一個起身離開的時機。”

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

在美國國會內部，要求對伊朗採取新的制裁的政治勢頭正在蓄積，克里呼籲美國參議院保持耐心。

“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.”

“我非常尊敬美國國會的權利，”他說，“但我相信在眼下這個時機，國會（需要）看到，讓我們保持幾個月的均衡狀態是明智之舉。”

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

英國外交大臣菲利普•哈蒙德(Philip Hammond)表示，延期“並非意味着談判現在會暫時擱置”。

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.

根據延期條件，伊朗的國際銀行賬戶每月會解凍7億美元的資產，作爲交換，伊朗將繼續暫停5%純度以上水平的鈾濃縮。

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.

維也納談判預定的結束時間是昨日午夜。但上週六晚，法國、德國和英國外長和克里在英國大使官邸共進晚餐時得出結論，除非伊朗在談判立場上做出令人難以置信的重大轉變，否則協議將無法達成。

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.

儘管外交官們在週末討論了新的技術提議，但在伊朗想要運行的離心機數量以及取消制裁的時間等關鍵問題上，雙方依然處於僵局。

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.

談判延期讓雙方都陷入了兩難境地：一方面，談判代表們需要足夠時間妥善磨合雙方仍未達成一致的問題；另一方面，談判拖得越久，就越有可能成爲伊朗強硬派和共和黨控制的新一屆美國參議院中的保守鷹派的靶子。

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

本月初在阿曼舉行的準備峯會之後，雙方之間存在的根本分歧使談判陷入僵局。