WASHINGTON, DC – As the West ratchets up its economic pressure on Iran to halt its drive to develop nuclear weapons, the Islamic Republic’s rulers are not sitting idly by. Since Iran lacks the soft power and the economic capacity to counter Western pressure, it is likely that its leaders will resort to threats, and even to force, to prevent the West from cracking down further, as the recent attack on the British embassy in Tehran shows.
华盛顿——随着西方启动经济压力迫使伊朗中止其核武器开发行为，伊朗伊斯兰教共和国的执政者没有坐视不理。由于伊朗缺乏软实力和抗衡西方压力的经济能力，因此很有可能其领导人会采用威胁甚至强迫手段防止西方的进一步打击，比如最近的袭击德黑兰英国使馆事件。