Brazil FM calls for more dialogue on Iran nuclear row

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Celso Amorim on Tuesday cautioned world powers against a new round of United Nations sanctions against Iran, urging increased dialogue to resolve the nuclear standoff.

The remarks came as Iran announced that it has begun enriching uranium to a higher level, defying numerous UN resolutions demanding a halt to such work.

“We don’t believe that sanctions will prove effective,” Amorim told reporters in Brasilia, according to AFP.

Tighter economic sanctions against Iran would hurt the general population, the foreign minister said.

Amorim suggested that International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano should go to Tehran to address problems over its nuclear program, including a nuclear fuel exchange deal with the West.

Brazil’s chief diplomat reiterated that it was against Iran acquiring nuclear arms, but stressed Tehran’s right to a peaceful nuclear energy program.

“We want to reach certainty [on Iran’s program] through dialogue and peaceful means,” Amorim said, according to Reuters.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western powers suspect Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapons capability.

Brazil enjoys good relations with Iran, and hosted a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last year. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to travel to Tehran in May.

On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said that a push for new UN sanctions against Iran was moving along fairly quickly and should be completed in the next few weeks.