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Brazil's Lula urges Iran caution Brazil rebuffs US Iran pressure
(about 6 hours later)
Iran should not be "pushed against the wall" over its nuclear programme but engaged in talks, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said. Brazil will not bow to pressure from the US to support further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear work, the country's foreign minister has said.
His comments came as he prepared to meet the visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Celso Amorim told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Brazil wanted to see further negotiations on the issue before it would support sanctions.
Washington wants Brazil, which enjoys good ties with Iran, to support tougher UN sanctions on Tehran to curb its nuclear ambitions. Mrs Clinton said that sanctions had to be passed first in order to persuade Iran to "negotiate in good faith".
Brazil is currently a member of the UN security Council. The US fears Iran is developing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
"It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall," Preisdent Lula said ahead of talks with Mrs Clinton. At a news conference with Mrs Clinton in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, Mr Amorim said: "We will not simply bow down to an evolving consensus if we do not agree.
"The prudent thing is to establish negotiations," he said, repeating his stance that isolating Iran's leaders is counter-productive. "We have to think by ourselves and with our values and principles," he said.
'Door open'
Washington wants Brazil, which enjoys good ties with Iran, to support its push for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to stop enriching uranium - a possible step to building atomic weapons.
Tehran says the uranium is being enriched to provide fuel for nuclear power reactors it envisages building.
Brazil is currently a member of the UN Security Council.
"I think it's only after we pass sanctions in the Security Council that Iran will negotiate in good faith," Mrs Clinton said.
"The door is open for negotiations. We never slammed it shut, she said. "But we don't see anybody, even in the far-off distance, walking toward it."
Even before talks with Mrs Clinton began, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva repeated his stance that isolating Iran's leaders is counter-productive.
"It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall. The prudent thing is to establish negotiations," he said.
"I want for Iran the same thing as I wish for Brazil: To use the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. If Iran is in agreement with that, Iran will have Brazil's support.""I want for Iran the same thing as I wish for Brazil: To use the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. If Iran is in agreement with that, Iran will have Brazil's support."
Ahead of arriving in Brazil, Mrs Clinton said that she would explain to President Lula the US view that Iran has the right to nuclear energy but not weapons. President Lula said he did not want Iran to develop nuclear weapons and would raise the issue in a visit to Tehran in May.
"It has been found to be in violation by the International Atomic Energy Agency and by the United Nations.
"These are not findings by the United States. These are findings by the international community."
Strains
Mrs Clinton is visiting South America at a time when there is a sense in the region that President Barack Obama's administration, distracted by so many other issues, has not lived up to expectations, says the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo.Mrs Clinton is visiting South America at a time when there is a sense in the region that President Barack Obama's administration, distracted by so many other issues, has not lived up to expectations, says the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo.
Brazil's approach towards Iran is just one of a number of sensitive topics up for discussion which will highlight strains in the relationship with Washington.
President Ahmadinejad was warmly received here last November and President Lula is due to visit Tehran this year.
The US state department has said if Brazil uses its relationship with Iran to press the country to fulfil its international obligations then that would be an important step, but if it did not do that, Washington would be "disappointed".The US state department has said if Brazil uses its relationship with Iran to press the country to fulfil its international obligations then that would be an important step, but if it did not do that, Washington would be "disappointed".
With Brazil currently on the UN Security Council, its views will have an added importance as the US tries to build a consensus on the issue of Iran.