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The conflicting incentives of the American-allied Persian Gulf monarchs only add to the complexity.
波斯灣與美國結盟的君主們彼此沖突的算盤只會讓問題變得更加復雜。
The hawkish rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have a vested interest in Washington’s tensions with Tehran:
沙特和阿聯酋的鷹派統治者就有既得利益牽連在華盛頓與德黑蘭的緊張關系里：
The shared enmity holds together the American alliance with the Arab gulf rulers.
共同的敵意讓美國與阿拉伯海灣諸位統治者之間的聯盟關系得以維系。
And a surge in those tensions may be especially useful to the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman,
倘若緊張局勢加劇，獲利最大的或將是沙特王儲穆罕默德·本·薩勒曼，
as he tries to move past a backlash in Washington over the Saudi killing of Jamal Khashoggi,
因為賈馬爾·哈蘇吉——《華盛頓郵報》供稿人，家住弗吉尼亞，對沙特持有不同政見——
a dissident who lived in Virginia and wrote for The Washington Post.
被殺一事讓華盛頓對沙特有了抵觸情緒，而王儲目前正在設法擺脫這一問題。
“The Saudis know there is nothing like a whiff of grapeshot to keep the Americans engaged,” Mr. Shapiro said.
“沒有什么比小道消息更能把美國牽扯進來，沙特人對此是再清楚不過了，”夏皮羅說。
In his first public comments about the episode,
周六，在對這一事件首次公開發表評論時，
the crown prince told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday
王儲告訴泛阿拉伯報紙Asharq al-Awsat的記者，
that Saudi Arabia “does not want war” but “will not hesitate to deal with any threat.”
沙特“不想挑起戰爭”，但“也會毫不猶豫地直面任何威脅”。
The prince accused Iran of carrying out the attacks on the tankers on Thursday
王子指控周四油輪遇襲事件是伊朗所為，
as well as other “hostile acts in the region” that “spread chaos and destruction.”
“在該地區散布混亂和破壞”的其他“敵對行為”也是伊朗所為。
Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long battled with Iran indirectly
長期以來，沙特和阿聯酋一直都在借黎巴嫩、伊拉克、
through surrogates in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
敘利亞和其他地方的代理人之手與伊朗展開側面斗爭。
Now the two Arab monarchies are fighting directly against Iranian allies in Yemen.
如今，阿拉伯世界的這兩個君主國已經開始同也門境內的伊朗盟友展開正面斗爭了。
Yet at the same time, diplomats say,
盡管如此，外交官們表示，
the Saudis and Emiratis also have good reason to hope that the escalating threats stop short of a shooting war.
沙特和阿聯酋也有充分的理由希望，不斷升級的威脅不會引發槍戰。
The rulers of both countries are acutely aware
因為兩國的統治者都非常清楚，
that they are directly in the line of fire of any military conflict between the United States and Iran.
如果美國和伊朗真的發生軍事沖突，無論是何等程度的沖突，都會毫無疑問地殃及到他們。
In recent weeks, missiles from Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthis,
最近幾周，也門境內的伊朗盟友——胡塞武裝發射的導彈
hit a Saudi oil pipeline as well as a civilian airport, where 26 people were reportedly injured.
擊中了沙特的一條石油管道和一個民用機場，據報道，造成了26人受傷。
Prince Mohammed “will be thinking about the Houthi attack on that Saudi airport,”
穆罕默德王儲“會考慮胡塞武裝襲擊沙特機場一事，”
said Mr. Jenkins, the former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
前英國駐沙特阿拉伯大使詹金斯說道。
“That is bigger for him” than the episode in the Gulf of Oman.
比起阿曼灣的插曲，“這件事對他而言更為重大”。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
