VOA标准英语2009-US Says No Deadline on Nuclear Diplomacy With Ir

（单词翻译）

The Obama administration said Thursday it has set no deadline for its diplomatic outreach to Iran to show results, but that U.S. patience on the issue of Tehran's nuclear program is not infinite. The new administration has said it will be a full participant in big-power nuclear contacts with Iran.

Officials here say there is no specific time-line on nuclear diplomacy¹ with Iran but that the United States is not prepared to wait forever for Tehran to agree to curb² its uranium enrichment program and return to formal negotiations³.

The comments here came in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal newspaper Thursday that the administration and European allies have set a target for early October for determining whether engagement with Iran is making progress.

The U.N. Security Council has approved three sanctions resolutions against Iran for its refusal to halt a uranium enrichment drive U.S. officials believe is weapons related.

Russia and China have resisted additional sanctions. The Wall Street Journal report said U.S. officials believe those two powers might be more amenable⁴ to tougher sanctions if there is no breakthrough before world leaders convene⁵ for the new U.N. General Assembly in late September.
　
New State Department spokesman Ian Kelly answers a question during a media briefing at the State Department in Washington, 11 May 2009

At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly insisted however that there is no fixed⁷ timetable.

"We're not setting any deadline. And we're not interested in setting any kind of specific or even notional time-line," said Kelly. We are of course monitoring very closely what the Iranians are doing, assessing progress. But we don't have any time-line. We're not going to let this string out forever of course, but we don't have any timetable on it."

The Bush administration refused a direct role in nuclear talks with Iran unless it first halted its enrichment program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.

Spokesman Kelly said the Obama administration determined⁸ that the previous approach of isolating⁹ Iran "didn't work" and that it wants to give engagement with Iran a chance.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Senators in April the United States is prepared to push for "crippling sanctions" against Tehran if outreach fails.

The U.S. Congress is currently debating legislation that would require the White House to sanction companies that sell refined petroleum¹⁰ products to Iran, which despite its huge oil reserves lacks gasoline refining capacity.

But at a Senate hearing Thursday, senior State Department Middle east expert Jeffrey Feltman appeared cool to the idea of new U.S. sanctions, saying the administration favors a multi-lateral approach.

"We don't want to end up in a situation where we're taking steps that could make it harder for us to strengthen the international coalition¹¹ that's focused on Iran," said Feltman. "We want to keep the focus on Iran and what Iran is doing, and what we can do collectively in order to try to persuade Iran to take a different course."

Feltman, a former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, spoke⁶ at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination¹² to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. He has held the top Middle East post on an acting¹³ basis since January.