外刊双语阅读｜沙特伊朗同意恢复外交关系，你应该了解的几个关键问题（纽约时报）

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2024-08-30

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最近，在中国的斡旋下，伊朗和沙特在北京签署了一份联合声明，双方同意恢复外交关系，这一事件引发国际社会和外媒的高度关注。

这里选取了《纽约时报》关于这一事件的报道，简单梳理双方恢复外交关系的重要性，以及对中东地区、中国和美国的影响是什么。

新闻题目

Answers to Some Key Questions on the Saudi-Iran Deal

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The announcement by Iran and Saudi Arabia that they are re-establishing diplomatic ties could lead to a major realignment in the Middle East. It also represents a geopolitical challenge for the United States and a victory for China, which brokered the talks between the two longstanding rivals.

伊朗和沙特阿拉伯宣布恢复外交关系，可能会导致中东地区的格局重新洗牌。它还代表着美国面临的一个地缘政治挑战，以及中国的一次胜利，后者促成了这两个长期竞争对手之间的谈判。

Under the agreement announced on Friday, Iran and Saudi Arabia will patch up a seven-year split by reviving a security cooperation pact, reopening embassies in each other’s countries within two months, and resuming trade, investment and cultural accords. But the rivalry between the two Persian Gulf nations is so deeply rooted in disagreements about religion and politics that simple diplomatic engagement may not be able to overcome them.

根据周五宣布的协议，伊朗和沙特将恢复安全合作协定，两个月内在彼此的国家重开大使馆，并恢复贸易、投资和文化协定来修补七年的分歧。但这两个波斯湾国家之间的对抗植根于宗教和政治分歧，可能无法通过简单的外交接触克服。

Here is a look at some of the key questions surrounding the deal.

以下是围绕该协议的一些关键问题。

Why is this important?

为什么此事很重要？

The new diplomatic engagement could scramble geopolitics in the Middle East and beyond by bringing together Saudi Arabia, a close partner of the United States, with Iran, a longtime foe that Washington and its allies consider a security threat and a source of global instability.

外交关系的恢复可能会使美国的亲密伙伴沙特与伊朗走到一起，从而扰乱中东及其他地区的地缘政治。伊朗是美国的长期敌人，华盛顿及其盟友视之为安全威胁以及全球不稳定的根源之一。

Saudi Arabia and Iran have competed for influence for decades, each seeing itself not just as a regional power, but also as a lodestar for the world’s 1.9 billion Muslims. Tensions between the two nations grew into an all-out rift in 2016 when protesters in Iran stormed Saudi diplomatic missions after the kingdom’s execution of a dissident Shiite cleric.

沙伊双方几十年来一直在争夺影响力，各自将自己看作全球19亿穆斯林的明灯，而不仅仅是地区大国。2016年，在沙特处决一名持不同政见的什叶派神职人员后，伊朗的抗议者冲进沙特大使馆，两国之间本已紧张的关系全面断裂。

In the years since, Saudi Arabia has encouraged a harsh response from the West toward Iran’s nuclear program and even established diplomatic back channels to Israel, the strongest anti-Iran force in the Middle East, partly aimed at coordinating ways to confront the threat from Tehran.

此后多年，沙特鼓励西方国家对伊朗的核计划做出严厉回应，甚至与中东最强大的反伊朗力量——以色列建立秘密外交渠道，其部分目的是为了协调应对德黑兰的威胁。

How the breakthrough announced on Friday would affect Saudi Arabia’s participation in Israeli and American efforts to counter Iran was not immediately clear. But the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two regional powers marked at least a partial thaw in a cold war that has long shaped the Middle East.

周五的宣布是一个突破，目前尚不清楚它将如何影响沙特参与以色列和美国的反伊努力。但这两个地区大国恢复外交关系至少标志着长期影响中东的冷战部分解冻。

What could the impact be across the Middle East?

对整个中东地区会产生什么影响？

Since they broke off diplomatic relations in 2016, the leaders of Iran and Saudi Arabia have regularly denounced each other. Tehran has accused the Saudis of backing terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, and Saudi Arabia has blasted Iran’s support for a network of armed militias across the Middle East.

自2016年断交以来，伊朗和沙特领导人经常互相指责。德黑兰指责沙特支持伊斯兰国等恐怖组织，而沙特则抨击伊朗支持一个覆盖中东的武装民兵网络。

The Saudi-Iranian rivalry has underpinned conflicts across the Middle East, including in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. It has played out perhaps most catastrophically in Yemen, where Saudi bombs aimed at reversing gains by Iranian-backed rebels have killed large numbers of civilians. Those rebels have responded by firing increasingly sophisticated missiles and armed drones at Saudi cities and oil facilities.

沙伊竞争加剧了包括伊拉克、黎巴嫩、叙利亚和也门在内的整个中东地区的冲突。这场竞争在也门的影响可能最具灾难性，沙特为了扭转伊朗支持的叛乱分子取得的胜利而投下炸弹，导致大量平民丧生。这些反叛分子的回应是向沙特的城市和石油设施发射越来越先进的导弹和武装无人机。

While the breakthrough announced on Friday took many observers by surprise, Saudi and Iranian intelligence chiefs have been meeting in Iraq in recent years to discuss regional security. A more formal diplomatic engagement may provide avenues for the two regional powers to make further progress on cooling regional flash points.

虽然周五宣布的突破让许多观察人士感到意外，但沙伊情报负责人近年来一直在伊拉克举行会面，讨论地区安全问题。恢复正式外交关系可能为这两个地区大国在冷却区域热点方面取得进一步进展提供途径。

What was China’s role?

中国起到了什么作用？

Iran and Saudi Arabia announced the agreement after talks hosted by China. Beijing maintains ties with both Middle Eastern countries, and the breakthrough highlights its growing political and economic clout in the region, which has long been shaped by the influence of the United States.

伊朗和沙特在中国主持的会谈后宣布了这项协议。北京与这两个中东国家都保持着联系，这一突破凸显了它在该地区日益增长的政治和经济影响力，而该地区长期以来一直受到美国的影响。

China’s leader, visited Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in December, a state visit that was celebrated by Saudi officials, who often complain that their American allies are pulling away.

去年12月，访问了沙特首都利雅得，那次国事访问受到了沙特官员的热烈欢迎，他们经常抱怨美国盟友正在拉开距离。

“China wants stability in the region, since they get more than 40 percent of their energy from the Gulf, and tension between the two threatens their interests,” said Jonathan Fulton, a nonresident senior fellow for Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council in Washington.

华盛顿大西洋理事会中东项目非常驻高级研究员乔纳森·富尔顿说：“中国希望该地区保持稳定，因为他们40%以上的能源来自海湾地区，两国之间的紧张关系威胁到他们的利益。”

Regional leaders have also noted their appreciation that China, which maintains a policy of “noninterference” in other countries’ affairs, avoids criticizing their domestic politics and does not have a history of sending its military to topple unfriendly dictators.

该地区领导人还指出，他们欣赏中国的做法。中国坚持“不干涉”别国事务的政策，避免批评他国的国内政治，也没有派遣军队推翻不友好独裁者的历史。

What could it mean for the United States?

这对美国可能意味着什么?

News of the deal, and particularly Beijing’s role in brokering it, alarmed foreign policy hawks in Washington.

有关该协议的消息，尤其是北京在促成协议过程中发挥的作用，令华盛顿的外交政策鹰派人士感到震惊。

小知识

什么是foreign policy hawk/dove？

In foreign policy, a “hawk” is a person who advocates a hard-line or warlike policy while a “dove” refers to a person who advocates negotiations as a means of terminating or preventing military conflict.

在外交政策方面，“鹰派”是指主张强硬或好战政策的人，而“鸽派”是指主张通过谈判来结束或防止军事冲突的人。

“Renewed Iran-Saudi ties as a result of Chinese mediation is a lose, lose, lose for American interests,” said Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank that supports tough policies toward Iran and China.

“伊朗和沙特在中国斡旋下恢复关系，这对美国的利益来说就是输、输、输，”华盛顿智库捍卫民主基金会首席执行官马克·杜博维茨说。该基金会支持对伊朗和中国采取强硬政策。

He said it showed that Saudi Arabia lacks trust in Washington, that Iran could peel away U.S. allies to ease its isolation and that China “is becoming the major-domo of Middle Eastern power politics.”

他说，这表明沙特对华盛顿缺乏信任，伊朗可以撬开美国的盟友以缓解自己的孤立状态，而中国“正在成为中东强权政治的重要主导者”。

What are the obstacles to a true thaw in relations?

两国关系真正解冻的障碍是什么?

Saudi Arabia and Iran are global leaders of the two largest sects of Islam, with Saudi Arabia considering itself the guardian of Sunnis and Iran assuming a similar role for Shiites.

沙特和伊朗是伊斯兰教两个最大教派的全球领袖，沙特认为自己是逊尼派的守护者，伊朗则认为自己是什叶派的守护者。

Leaders in Tehran routinely criticize Saudi Arabia’s close ties with the United States, accusing the kingdom of doing the West’s bidding in the Middle East. And Iran, in an effort to enhance its own security and project influence, has heavily invested in building a network of armed militias across the region. Saudi Arabia considers that network a threat not only to its own security, but also to the broader regional order.

德黑兰领导人经常批评沙特与美国的密切关系，指责沙特在中东听命于西方。而伊朗为了加强自身的安全和影响力，在该地区投入巨资建立了一个武装民兵网络。沙特认为，该网络不仅对自己的安全构成威胁，也对更广泛的地区秩序构成威胁。

小知识

逊尼派（Sunni）VS什叶派（Shia）

伊斯兰教是目前全世界信仰人数第二多的教派，信仰人数最多的是基督教。伊斯兰教又分为逊尼派（Sunni）和什叶派（Shia）。

两个派别区别？

逊尼派和什叶派穆斯林之间的冲突和分裂始于关于穆罕默德合法继承人的辩论。632年，穆罕默德去世，由于他在生前没有明确指定其继承人，因而在阿拉伯帝国内部爆发了争夺哈里发（意为真主使者的继承者，是帝国的政治宗教领袖）的冲突。由于这一冲突，伊斯兰教内部分裂成两个派别。

一是受到多数穆斯林支持的多数派，后来被称作“逊尼派”，希望通过选举产生新的领袖。

另一派由穆罕默德的堂弟及女婿阿里的支持者们组成的派别——“阿里派”，后来被称作“什叶派”，认为应该阿里来担任领袖。

简单来说，就是逊尼派更开放，更加世俗化，更具有包容性；什叶派更加保守和传统，重视血统的重要性。

直到今日什叶派在穆斯林当中仍然是少数派，在16亿穆斯林中所占比例大约为10%到15%。

两个派别国家/地区分布？

逊尼派（Sunni）——在撒哈拉沙漠以北的非洲国家生活的穆斯林多为逊尼派，沙特阿拉伯、印尼、孟加拉、叙利亚、巴勒斯坦地区