US Considers Opening Interest Section in Tehran
美国务院讨论设德黑兰外交办事处

　 
State Department officials are acknowledging an internal debate over whether the United States should open a diplomatic interests section in Tehran. Iran said Tuesday it would consider a request from the United States to open a diplomatic presence.

美国国务院官员承认，国务院内部目前正就美方是否应该在伊朗首都德黑兰设立一个外交办事处进行讨论。德黑兰星期二表示，假如美方提出要求，伊朗会考虑。

The idea of opening a U.S. interests section in Tehran, first raised in a story Monday by the Washington Post, would seem to run counter to the Bush administration's policy of isolating Iran over its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

在德黑兰设立一个美国外交办事处这个设想最初是华盛顿邮报星期一的一篇文章提出来的。但这个设想似乎与布什政府由于伊朗拒绝停止其铀浓缩活动而决定孤立伊朗的政策背道而驰。

But in a talk with reporters en route to Europe Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pointedly refused to rule out such a step, saying she preferred not to comment on what she termed U.S. internal deliberations.

不过，国务卿赖斯星期一在飞往欧洲的途中对媒体谈话时，显然没有排除这种可能性。她表示不愿就政府内部正在进行的商议进行评论。

Only hours later, Iran's official news agency said Tehran is ready in principle to consider such a request if one is made by the United States.

几个小时之后，伊朗官方通讯社表示，假如美方提出要求的话，德黑兰原则上会予以考虑。

Formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, when student militants took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats and others hostage for more than a year.

1979年，伊朗发生了伊斯兰革命，激进的伊朗青年学生占据了美国驻德黑兰的使馆，并将美国外交官员和其他人质关押了一年多之久。美国与伊朗断绝了外交关系。

But diplomats of the two countries have interacted in various venues over the years, and Iran has quietly operated its own interests section in Washington for several years, technically part of the embassy of Pakistan.

但是过去这些年里，双方的外交官员实际上在通过各种不同的渠道进行互动，而且伊朗在华盛顿设置的外交办事处已经悄悄地运行好几年了，办事处名义上是巴基斯坦驻美使馆的一部分。

At a news briefing Tuesday, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey reiterated comments by Secretary Rice that despite its differences with the Iranian government, the United States is looking for ways to reach out to the Iranian people.

星期二，美国国务院副发言人汤姆.凯西重申了赖斯国务卿的谈话，即虽然美国与伊朗政府之间存在著分歧，但是美方一直在寻求通过各种方式与伊朗人民沟通。

"Our issues with the current Iranian government including its nuclear program as well as its support for terrorist activities do not in any way mean hostility or animosity on the part of the U.S. toward the Iranian people and we have great respect for the Iranian people and for Iranian civilization," said Tom Casey. "And you've seen as well through some of the exchange activities that have been done, based on sports, medicine or art, that we're continually looking for ways to be able to find new means to reach out to the Iranian people."

凯西说：“我们对伊朗现政府的核项目以及它对恐怖活动的支持感到不满，但这丝毫不意味著我们对伊朗人民有任何敌意。实际上，我们非常尊重伊朗人民以及伊朗文化。通过我们在体育、医学、艺术等方面的某些交流，可以看出，我们一直在不断地寻找新的途径，与伊朗人民沟通。”

The United States has an office in the Gulf state of Dubai dealing with routine visa matters for Iranians who visit the United States, while the Swiss embassy in Tehran handles U.S. interests in Iran.

美国目前在迪拜设有一个办事处，负责处理伊朗人访美签证；而瑞士驻德黑兰大使馆则代办美方在伊朗的事务。

Officials here say an American interests section in Tehran would be similar to the one operated by the United States in the Cuban capital Havana.

美国国务院官员表示，假如美国在德黑兰设置一个外交办事处，那会很像美国在古巴首都哈瓦那设置的办事处。

They say it would be somewhat awkward for Iran to turn down a U.S. request for such a mission, given Iran's diplomatic presence in Washington, which operates openly and even has its own internet website.

上述官员说，由于伊朗方面在华盛顿已经公开设有类似的机构，并且还有自己的网站，假如美方提出类似的要求，很难想象它会拒绝。

Secretary Rice, in her airborne comments Monday, said the United States wants more Iranians to visit the United States and acknowledged it is difficult for would-be Iranian visitors to access the visa office in Dubai.

国务卿赖斯星期一在飞往欧洲的途中表示，美国方面希望有更多的伊朗民众访美，她同时承认说，希望访美的伊朗人目前必须要到美方在迪拜的签证处去办理相关手续，实际上是很不方便的。

Rice has repeatedly offered open-ended U.S. political dialogue with Iran, if the Tehran government heeds U.N. Security Council calls to suspend its uranium enrichment effort, which officials here believe is weapons-related.

赖斯此前一再表示，一旦伊朗政府遵从联合国安理会的要求，停止美方认为与核武器有关的铀浓缩活动，美方即愿意同伊朗就一切问题进行磋商。

A senior State Department official Tuesday declined to assess the chances for an American interests section to be opened in Tehran this year, but citing the example of the U.S. mission in Havana, he said stranger things have happened.

星期二，美国国务院一名高级官员不愿评估美国是否有可能于今年之内在德黑兰设置外交办事处，但是他以美国在哈瓦那设立办事处为例说，更不可思议的事情都发生过。