Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Brasilia on Monday seeking support for his controversial nuclear programme, the first leg of a South American tour that critics say could dent Brazil’s ambitions on the global diplomatic stage.
Opposition politicians in Brazil condemned the visit, citing concern over Iran’s nuclear programme, its denial of the Holocaust and human rights abuses. Hundreds of people protested in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia, urging President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to take a hard line with Ahmadinejad.
Lula defended the visit, saying any progress on the nuclear stand-off with Iran and on the stalled Middle East peace process required dialogue with all parties involved.
”It doesn’t help isolating Iran,” Lula, who has been pushing to bolster Brazil’s clout on the world stage, said on Monday in his weekly radio address.
Ahmadinejad’s trip follows visits in the last two weeks by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres, who called on Lula to use Brazil’s growing influence to help curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Lula, who has defended Iran’s right to develop civilian nuclear energy, is expected to urge Ahmadinejad to accept the terms of global nuclear non-proliferation when the two meet later on Monday.
Iran has long countered Western suspicions it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons by saying its programme is purely for civilian energy use. In hopes of wooing the Brazilians to his side, Ahmadinejad has sought to liken Iran’s nuclear programme to Brazil’s.
”If the Brazilian people people stand beside the Iranian people in this unfair dispute of Western countries against Iran’s nuclear programme, it is because of a similar experience,” Ahmadinejad wrote in an article distributed by the Iranian embassy in Brasilia.
Brazil, which has renounced nuclear weapons, is developing its own technology to enrich uranium as part of its nuclear energy programme. It is also partnering with France to develop a nuclear-powered submarine.
World powers have urged Iran to reconsider its rejection of a UN-drafted deal which aimed to delay Tehran’s potential ability to make bombs by at least a year, by divesting the country of most of its enriched uranium.
Protests
Almost a thousand people protested against Ahmadinejad in Rio at the weekend, condemning his denial of the Holocaust and urging Lula to demand freedom of speech in Iran. Groups of anti- and pro-Ahmadinejad demonstrators traded barbs outside the foreign ministry in Brasilia on Monday.
The Israeli Federation of São Paulo state took out an advertisement in Brazilian newspapers on Sunday showing a picture of a Holocaust victim displaying an identification number tattooed on his forearm.
”Mr Ahmadinejad, the numbers don’t lie,” the ad read.
Brazil, which is seeking a seat on the United Nations security council, has been taking a more active role on the international stage as a major emerging economy, from trade and climate discussions to conflict resolution in Haiti and Honduras.
But critics say Brazil has little to gain by cozying up to Ahmadinejad, a strategy that could strain relations with the United States if the Iranian leader emerges emboldened from his South American tour.
Ahmadinejad is also set to visit Venezuela and Bolivia this week.
José Serra, São Paulo state governor and the likely opposition candidate in next year’s presidential race, said the visit contradicted Brazil’s democratic principles.
”One thing is a diplomatic relationship with dictatorships, another is to welcome their leaders in your home,” Serra wrote in an opinion piece on Monday in Folha de S.Paulo.
”This visit symbolises the denial of everything that Brazil stands for in the world,” Serra said. – Reuters