HAVING FAILED to defeat Iran with bombs, can President Donald Trump salvage(挽救；挽回) something with bribes? After weeks of haggling(讨价还价) over how to end the war, he and his Iranian counterpart have signed a short peace memo. It amounts to(相当于；总计为) the promise of lots and lots of money for Iran, so long as it can satisfy Mr Trump that it has abandoned(放弃) any plans for a nuclear weapon. That is a huge and unlikely gamble(不太可能成功的赌博) and it leaves the countries of the Middle East with some hard thinking.
在用炸弹击败伊朗失败后，唐纳德·特朗普总统能否用贿赂挽回一些东西？经过数周关于如何结束战争的讨价还价，他和伊朗对手签署了一份简短的和平备忘录。这相当于承诺向伊朗提供大量资金，只要它能令特朗普相信它已放弃任何核武器计划。这是一场巨大而不太可能的赌博，它让中东各国面临一些艰难的思考。
The memo ditches(抛弃；丢弃) many of Mr Trump’s war aims. There will be no regime change; no succour(援助；救济) for Iran’s oppressed people; no limits on Iran’s ballistic missiles(弹道导弹) or its support of proxies(代理人；代理人武装). Instead the deal focuses on two things. One is reopening the Strait of Hormuz, where the foolishness of Mr Trump’s war and the humiliation(羞辱；丢脸) of his climbdown are laid bare(暴露无遗). Before the fighting, vessels(船只；舰艇) had free passage; after the 60 days in this deal, they may well(很可能) have to pay a fee.
这份备忘录抛弃了特朗普的许多战争目标。不会有政权更迭；不会为伊朗受压迫的人民提供援助；不会限制伊朗的弹道导弹或其代理人支持。相反，该协议聚焦于两件事。一是重新开放霍尔木兹海峡，那里暴露了特朗普战争的愚蠢和他退让的羞辱。战前，船只自由通行；而根据该协议，60天后，它们很可能必须支付费用。
The other focus is the nuclear programme. The regime(政权) has given up almost nothing. Its promise not to get a bomb is old. It will down-blend(降级混合（浓缩铀）) its stocks of enriched uranium(浓缩铀) and discuss the rest of its programme, but the issues are complex and Iran is masterful at stringing things along(拖延；敷衍). And then there are the bribes. Iran can immediately export oil and derivatives(衍生产品（石油制品）). Depending on the talks’ progress, America will unfreeze(解冻（资产）) assets worth tens of billions of dollars, lift sanctions(解除制裁) and help create a fund of at least $300bn for reconstruction and development. Mr Trump is tired of war. If, as planned, American troops depart within 30 days, his ability to use force will be limited.
另一个焦点是核计划。该政权几乎没做出任何让步。它不制造炸弹的承诺是老调重弹。它将降级混合其浓缩铀库存，并讨论其余计划，但问题复杂，伊朗擅长拖延。还有贿赂。伊朗可以立即出口石油及衍生产品。根据谈判进展，美国将解冻价值数百亿美元的资产，解除制裁，并帮助创建一个至少3000亿美元的基金用于重建和发展。特朗普厌倦了战争。如果按计划美军在30天内撤离，他使用武力的能力将受限。