[背景]：英国被俘水兵终于顺利返回了英国，并与家人团聚。这一事件的和平解决也给长期处于走火边缘的对伊朗军事打击悬念再一次延迟，内贾德貌似闲庭信步，实则焦灼不安，面对一触即发的战事，他再次显示了灵活的危机处理能力，没有留给美国开战的口实，同时也至少口头上得到了英国不少的期许，比如通过外交谈判解决核危机等。虽然布莱尔一再重申没有“暗箱交易”，但“此地无银三百两”，狡猾的内贾德不会轻易就范，到口的肉肯定会大咬一口。英国水兵队长也承认他们的任务是收集情报，所以言外之意似乎是“不冤”，走的时候还带走了内贾德送的礼物，同时至少还穿走了伊朗送的西服，看来他们很可能是伊朗未来的“说客”，前提是他们没有受到虐待并不被英国军方追查在电视上公开承认“犯境”的做法。——编者
[CNN原文]：UK sailors reunited (1) with families
LONDON, England （CNN） —— Fifteen British service members (2) detained last month in Iran have been reunited with their families after flying home from Tehran (3).
"The past two weeks have been very difficult, but by staying together as a team, we kept our spirits up (4), drawing great comfort from the knowledge that our loved ones would be waiting for us on our return to the UK," they said in a joint statement (5) released Thursday.
The group of sailors and marines landed at London's Heathrow Airport (6) around midday following a six-hour flight before being transferred by helicopter to a military base (7) in Chivenor, southwestern England.
"It is only now that we have learned of the enormous public support we have all enjoyed in the UK and we wish to thank everyone for their thoughts, kind words and prayers. It means so much to us all (8)," the statement said.
Video showed the group, still in uniform, laughing and hugging family members. Some posed for pictures while others talked on cell phones (9). They were also due to undergo debriefings and medical examinations.
Speaking in Downing Street (10) as the British Airways flight carrying the 15 landed in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed their release, announced by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "gift" on Wednesday, but reiterated (11) that no diplomatic deals (12) had been done to secure their release.
Blair said the group's homecoming was a reason to "rejoice" but noted that their arrival back to the UK came amid news of the deaths of four British soldiers in Iraq.
"We are glad that our service personnel (13) return safe and unharmed from their captivity, but on the other, we return to the sober and ugly reality of what is happening through terrorism in Iraq," he said.
Blair said the group's sudden release vindicated the UK's "dual-track strategy" (14) of pursuing bilateral dialogue (15) while mobilizing international pressure, adding that their return had been secured "without any deal, without any negotiation, without any side agreement of any nature whatsoever (16)."
New channels
He said the crisis had opened up new channels of communication with Tehran that it would be "sensible" to pursue, and he said it was the "right moment" to reflect on (17) relations with Iran.
"But there cannot be any misunderstanding of the basis upon which that communication takes place," said Blair. "We have to hold absolutely firm in relation to support from any aspect of the Iranian regime for terrorism."
Captain: We gathered intelligence (18) on Iran
Responding to the claim by Ahmadinejad that the UK had sent a letter of apology to Tehran vowing not to intrude into (19) Iranian territorial waters (20), Blair noted that the allegation was "nothing new" since British forces should not have been in Iranian waters, adding "obviously it's our contention that they weren't," in reference to the 15 marines and sailors.
However, the captain of the 15 said in an interview with British TV network Sky News (21) that gathering intelligence on Iranian naval activity was a standard part of their duties.
Royal Navy Capt. Chris Air told Sky News five days before the crew was seized that patrols (22) regularly encountered fishing boats in the area and talked to their crews about guarding against terrorism and piracy (23).
"Secondly, it's to gather int [intelligence]. If they do have any information, because they're here for days at a time, they can share it with us, whether it's about piracy or any sort of Iranian activity in the area," Air told Sky News.
"Obviously we're right by the buffer zone (24) with Iran," Air added.
Sky News said on its Web site that it withheld the story until after the sailors' release to avoid giving the Iranians evidence for prosecuting the captives.
Blair also dismissed suggestions that any deal had been made involving the release of Iranians held in Iraq.
"Let me make it absolutely clear: No, there are no agreements about any Iranian elements that may be held in Iraq because they're being held in Iraq as a result of the wrongful interference with (25) the business in Iraq," Blair said.
Carrying large duffel bags and brightly patterned gift bags, the detainees strolled onto the tarmac (26) after arriving at Heathrow —— the sailors wearing blue uniforms and the marines in fatigues (27) —— and briefly lined up for a photo op (28).
Earlier, they were seen off from Tehran by Britain's ambassador to Iran, Geoffrey Adams, Iran's state-run (29) IRIB network reported.
Before boarding, the Britons were pictured receiving and inspecting gifts given to them on Ahmadinejad's behalf.
Big party
Meanwhile, friends and family of one of the detained sailors, Nathan Summers, are planning "a big party" in the small town of Hayle, southwestern England, to celebrate his release, Summers' grandmother April Rawsthorne told CNN's "American Morning" on Thursday.
"We're a large family, and we have loads of friends," she said. "We're all going to get together and have a really good night out."
[注释]：
1. reunite：团聚，重逢
2. service members：现役军人，service在此处是形容词，当“现役的，服役的”讲
3. Tehran：德黑兰，伊朗的首都，这是世界政治军事的一个焦点位置，幽闭要了解
4. we kept our spirits up. 我们保持了旺盛的精力。/我们没有垮掉。
5. joint statement：联合声明
6. Heathrow Airport：伦敦的希思罗机场，去年恐怖袭击的对象，警察提前得到线报破产
7. military base：军事基地
8. It means so much to us all. 这对我们来说非常重要/意义重大。
9. talked on cell phones：打手机电话
10. Downing Street：唐宁街，英国政府驻地，往往用来代指英国政府
11. reiterate：重声，再三说明，强调
12. diplomatic deals：外交交易
13. service personnel：同service members
14. dual-track strategy：双轨策略，即怀柔与压迫共际，一方面展开外交攻势，寻求和平解决，同时争取国际力量给伊朗施加压力，包括美国集结重兵于波斯湾。
15. bilateral dialogue：双边对话，bilateral是双边的，unilateral是单边的
16. without any side agreement of any nature whatsoever：没有任何形式的单边协议
17. reflect on：思考，反省，此句表明英国可能会局部改变目前的对伊朗策略
18. intelligence：情报，简写为int
19. intrude into：侵入，intrude等于invade
20. territorial waters：领海
21. Sky News：天空新闻网，由传媒大亨默多克把持的最大的传媒集团
22. patrol：巡逻
23. piracy：盗版，海盗，pirated films盗版电影
24. buffer zone：缓冲区，zone是指一个特殊用途的区域，如开发区，居住区等，area是一个自然概念
25. wrongful interference with：错误的介入......
26. tarmac：停机坪，来源与一个商标
27. fatigues：此处的意思是制服，与疲劳无关，切记！
28. a photo op：op指的是operator，操作员
29. state-run：国有的
（外语教育网）
[延伸阅读]：伊朗释放英被俘水兵