Trade Group to Start Talks to Admit Iran

The World Trade Organization announced Thursday that it would start talks to admit Iran as a member, a reward for Tehran's agreement to continue (1) __________ its nuclear activities.

In Washington, the State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, said the timing of the United States (2) ___________ on Iran's World Trade Organization membership talks was "not totally coincidental." He said the negotiations between the Europeans and the Iranians in Geneva on Wednesday demonstrated "that efforts to achieve a peaceful, diplomatic solution on the Iran nuclear issue do continue."

The United States, which (3) ___________ Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons, has vetoed its efforts to join the organization since it first applied in 1996. Even though politics is not supposed to play a role in issues relating to membership, the Clinton and Bush administrations used the World Trade Organization veto as one of a range of American economic (4) ___________ against Iran, an Islamic republic.

Because the organization, which is based in Geneva and has 148 member countries, makes decisions by consensus, the United States alone was able to block Iran more than 20 times over the years. In March, President Bush announced that he would reverse that policy and agreed to consider sales of commercial aircraft parts after European leaders warned him that their nuclear negotiations with Iran would fail unless the United States joined Europe in a common bargaining position.

An array of Iranian officials (5)___________the American gestures as insignificant.

Under a preliminary accord with Iran in Paris last November, France, Germany and Britain promised economic, political and security benefits in (6)____________for Iran's "objective guarantees" that its nuclear program was totally peaceful. The economic benefits included helping Iran gain membership in the World Trade Organization, the (7) _____________ of private investment and technical help or cooperation in automobiles, telecommunications, civil aviation, agriculture and other fields. Joining the World Trade Organization offers access to a club of nations that are trying to reduce (8) __________ on trade in goods and services. The organization also settles trade (9) _________ among members, and offers technical aid to developing nations.

Ex. 10. In groups, you are going to give a short presentation (maximum ten

minutes) on the following topics. Choose the one. Give your presentation to

the other groups.

1. The UN: tools of peacekeeping.

2. The role of the UN and other international organizations in the settlement of disputes.

3. Kazakhstan as an agent of the international community.

4. WTO: advantages and disadvantages of the membership.

5. Kazakhstan: efforts to join the WTO, perspectives for economy.

Unit 3. Hot Spots

Key vocabulary

Give equivalents in your mothertongue to the following English words and phrases:

Abduct, abductor

artillery shell

to call for an end

to carry out an incursion

casualties; to cause casualties

cease-fire agreement; permanent cease-fire

clashes, street clashes

to combat force; combatants

contingency plan By last fall, the Pentagon had drafted contingency plans to begin reducing the American presence in Iraq as early as July 2005.

death toll, one-day death toll

to defuse the tension

to deliver one's traditional plea for peace

to disperse a crowd

explosive device

to fire teargas at; to fire water laced with chemicals

guerrilla attacks

to hold captive

insurgency; insurgents