Rice Says Decision on Opening Mission in Iran to Be Left to Obama Administration
赖斯：由奥巴马决定设伊朗代表处

　
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the Bush administration supports the idea of opening a U.S. diplomatic "interests section" in Iran. But she says the press of other matters delayed action on the issue, and that the decision will now be left to the incoming Barack Obama administration.

美国国务卿赖斯星期三说，布什政府支持在伊朗设立美国外交“利益代表处”的主意。不过，赖斯表示，其它事情的紧迫性推迟了在这项工作的进度，因此这个决定现在要由即将上任的巴拉克.奥巴马政府实行。

There have been news reports for several months that the Bush administration was considering opening a diplomatic mission in Iran, and Rice confirmed at her news conference Wednesday that President Bush made a decision in principle to do so some time ago.

几个月来一直有新闻报导说，布什政府正在考虑在伊朗开设外交代表处，赖斯星期三在记者会上证实了这一消息，她说，布什总统曾经在原则上作出决定这样做。

But the Secretary of State says the Russia-Georgia crisis in August and other issues intervened to delay implementation. She says that now with only two months left in the Bush administration the matter will be left to President-elect Obama.

不过，赖斯国务卿说，8月发生的俄罗斯和格鲁吉亚冲突等问题耽搁了这一决定的实施。她说，鉴于目前布什政府还剩下两个月就要卸任，因此这件事情要留待当选总统奥巴马来完成。

Despite the lack of U.S. Iranian diplomatic relations, Tehran has operated an interests section in Washington for several years, technically part of the embassy of Pakistan.

尽管美国和伊朗之间没有外交关系，但是德黑兰几年来在华盛顿开办了一个外交利益办事处，在名义上是巴基斯坦使馆从属部门。

U.S. officials have said Iran would not have a strong case to oppose the setting up of a similar U.S. mission in Tehran, which would issue visas for Iranians traveling to the United States and conduct people-to-people outreach programs.

美国官员曾经表示，伊朗没有充足的理由反对美国在德黑兰设立同样的代表处，该代表处的工作是向前往美国的伊朗人发放签证，开展人际交流项目。

Rice told reporters President Bush decided to support an interests section in the context of a firm U.S. policy confronting Iranian nuclear ambitions, aggressive actions in the Middle East and political repression at home. But she said the necessary contacts with Iran on the issue never began because of the press of other business.

赖斯对记者说，布什总统决定支持在德黑兰设立外交利益代表处的前提是美国坚决反对伊朗的核野心，反对它在中东的侵略行径以及在国内实行的政治压制。但是赖斯说，由于其它事务的紧迫性，美国跟伊朗一直没有就在德黑兰设立代表处的事宜开始进行必要的接触。

"Frankly, at the point at which we most likely would have done it, we were right in the middle of the Georgia-Russia conflict, and then a number of other international events I think just made it difficult to do," Rice said."And so I think that within the context of a firm policy toward Iran, something that reaches out to the Iranian people is very important, and you rightly say that eyes on the ground is also very valuable. But it is awfully important that it be understood that the constituency here is not the Iranian regime, but the Iranian people."

赖斯说：“坦率地说，在我们本该最有可能完成这件事某段时间里，但我们却不得不忙于应对格鲁吉亚和俄罗斯的冲突。我认为，接着发生的若干国际事件又让我们无法顾及它。因此，我认为在我们对伊朗的坚定政策的框架内努力接触伊朗人民是非常重要的，你有理由这样说：着眼于这一基本问题也是非常有价值的。但是，我们应该认识到我们的支持者不是伊朗政权而是伊朗人民，这点尤为重要。”

Rice said the State Department has done internal work on how a Tehran interests section would function but said that "at this late moment" it is better that the decision to proceed be left to the next administration.

赖斯说，在美国驻德黑兰外交利益代表处的职责方面，美国国务院已经完成了内部的工作，不过她表示，既然这项工作已经耽搁了，因此由下届政府进一步执行这个决定比较好。

The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iranian student activists took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held many staff officials hostage for more than a year.

Diplomats of the two countries have interacted at multi-lateral meetings in recent years, including a Geneva meeting in July when Under-Secretary of State William Burns was part of a big-power meeting with Iran's nuclear negotiator.

近年来，两国外交官员在各种多边会议上进行互动，其中包括国务次卿伯恩斯7月跟伊朗核谈判代表一道在日内瓦出席一个大国会议时有过的接触。