美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)警告说，如果不针对伊朗核计划实施新的联合国制裁，会有爆发地区冲突的风险。她对英国《金融时报》表示：“无视伊朗构成的威胁，将使世界在6个月至1年内陷于更加危险的境地”。

　　Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, has warned of the risk of regional conflict if new United Nations sanctions are not imposed on Tehran's nuclear programme, telling the Financial Times that “ignoring the threat posed by Iran will put the world in a more precarious position within six months to a year”.

　　五角大楼高级官员上周说，伊朗可能在一年内制造出足够装配一枚核弹的裂变材料，尽管它可能需要三至五年才能开发出可供使用的核武器。

　　Senior Pentagon officials last week said Iran could develop enough fissile material for a bomb within a year, although it would probably take three to five years for Tehran to develop a serviceable weapon.

　　《纽约时报》(New York Times)昨天报道称，美国国防部长罗伯特·盖茨(Robert Gates)曾在1月份警告白宫说，美国缺乏一套有效的长期战略来对付伊朗的核野心。

　　The New York Times reported yesterday that Robert Gates, US defence secretary, had warned the White House in January that the US lacked an effective long-term strategy to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions.

　　面对中国、土耳其和巴西的怀疑，希拉里在上周接受采访时呼吁，“尽快”对伊朗进行制裁。

　　In the interview, conducted last week, Mrs Clinton called for sanctions “as soon as feasible” in the face of scepticism from China, Turkey and Brazil.

　　“其它选择是什么？”她问道。“另一种选择是允许它们继续寻求核武器，要么是实际制造，要么是完全具备制造能力，这将在其邻国之间引发一场军备竞赛，并将使这个世界上最不稳定的地区之一面临危险，甚至可能引发冲突。我不认为这是一个值得冒的风险。”

　　“What's the alternative?” she asked. “The alternative is to permit them to continue pursuing nuclear weapons, either actual production or full capacity, which will trigger an arms race among their neighbours and would put one of the most volatile regions in the world at risk and could even trigger a conflict. And I don't believe that that's a chance worth taking.”

　　奥巴马政府迄今敦促以色列不要打击伊朗，人们担心美国可能会卷入一场冲突。伊朗坚称，其核计划用于和平目的。

　　Barack Obama's administration has urged Israel not to strike Iran amid fears the US could be drawn into a conflict. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.

　　译者/功文