Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
President Trump wrote a message on October 8. He said the United States will not attack Iran before the midterm elections. Those elections are on November 3.
He also said his team is having productive talks with Iran. Earlier, talks had stopped.
At the same time, the US military is sending more forces. A third aircraft carrier may arrive at the end of October.
- attack
- to use force against a place or person
- election
- a vote to choose leaders
- talks
- a conversation to solve a problem
- military
- the army, navy and air force
- aircraft carrier
- a very big ship with planes
- message
- words you write to someone
- midterm
- in the middle of a leader's time
- troops
- soldiers
Level 2 - Elementary
On October 8, President Donald Trump wrote on social media that the United States would not be attacking Iran at any time before the midterm elections on November 3. He added that his team had been having productive discussions with Iran.
The talks had stalled late last month. Trump had rejected an Iranian plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States met some conditions. Later, Iran said it had received a new American offer, and its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said he expected a formal answer within days.
While the talks continue, the American military is growing its presence. Officials said a third aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and thousands of troops could arrive as early as the end of October.
- stalled
- stopped making progress
- reject
- to say no to an offer
- reopen
- to open again
- strait
- a narrow water road between two lands
- condition
- something that must happen first
- counterproposal
- a new offer made in answer to another
- formal
- official and serious
- presence
- being in a place
Level 3 - Intermediate
President Donald Trump said on October 8 that the United States 'will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections', which take place on November 3. In the same post he claimed his team was holding productive discussions with the Islamic Republic.
The pledge followed weeks of deadlock. Late last month Trump publicly rejected a proposal from Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days provided Washington met certain conditions. Iran later confirmed it had received an American counterproposal, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a formal reply should come within days.
Yet the pledge came as Washington was reinforcing its position. U.S. officials said the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a third aircraft carrier, and thousands of additional troops could arrive in the region as early as the end of October. Trump had also hinted that the end of the war might come in the days around the election while keeping open the possibility of resuming full scale operations.
- pledge
- a serious promise
- deadlock
- a situation where no side can move forward
- reinforce
- to make stronger with more forces
- counterproposal
- an offer made in reply to an earlier offer
- discussions
- serious conversations
- hint
- to suggest without saying directly
- possibility
- something that might happen
- operations
- organized military activities
Level 4 - Advanced
President Donald Trump declared on October 8 that the United States 'will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections', a pledge with an obvious expiry date of November 3, and one that he coupled with the assertion that his negotiators were engaged in productive discussions with the Islamic Republic.
The announcement ended a stretch of apparent paralysis. Late last month Trump publicly dismissed a Tehran proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, contingent on American concessions, and Iran subsequently acknowledged receiving a counteroffer, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi predicting a formal response within days. Reuters later reported that the Iranian side regarded the American answer as falling short of its seven conditions, and that the two capitals still disagreed over sequencing, Washington insisting on the nuclear file first and Tehran on Hormuz.
The restraint is, however, conspicuously armed. U.S. officials said the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a third carrier, and thousands more troops could reach the theater by the end of October, and Trump has intimated both that a conclusion to the war could materialize around the election and that he retains the option of full scale operations. Critics may read the pledge as electoral prudence; supporters, as leverage. Either way, the calendar has become a variable in the negotiation.
- coupled with
- combined together with
- assertion
- a confident statement
- paralysis
- a state of being unable to act
- contingent on
- depending on
- concession
- something given up in a negotiation
- sequencing
- the order in which things happen
- intimate
- to hint indirectly
- leverage
- power used to influence a result
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