Brazil: Iran ‘essential player’ in Mideast peace

Iran is “an essential player” in Middle East peace talks, Brazil said Monday as Israel’s extremist foreign minister continued a Latin American tour aimed at countering Iran.

The “involvement of countries that have influence in the region is absolutely essential,” Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said during a conference organized by the United Nations in Rio.

“Iran is an essential player,” he said.

The top Brazilian diplomat said he believed one of the reasons that successive peace plans for the region have failed is that “the players have always been the same.”

Brazil, which is hoping to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, has said it would be able to act as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians because it has “the confidence” of both parties.

Extremist Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stopped in Brazil last week at the beginning of a Latin American tour intended to counter Iran.

But the Latin American powerhouse has growing ties with Iran, and is set to receive Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on a state visit before the end of the year, despite controversy surrounding his reelection.

Lieberman said Monday in Peru that he was in favor of tougher UN sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to halt its nuclear program, which he described as a “threat” to the world.

“We see that the situation with Iran is really a big threat not only for Israel but for (the) entire world,” Lieberman said during a visit to Peru, part of a 10-day swing through Latin America aimed at countering Tehran.

“If this regime will achieve nuclear power it’s a real threat. We need to stop Iranians,” he said.

“We think the best solution is tough sanctions in the UN and we hope this meeting in UN in September can bring a real change in the Iranian problem.”

Lieberman, an extremist who is part of the hardline government of new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in early May that US-led efforts to negotiate an end to the Iran nuclear standoff should last only three months before “practical steps” are taken.

Earlier in the month, US President Barack Obama said the international community would not “just wait indefinitely” as Tehran developed a nuclear weapon.

And on Monday, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in Israel that Washington hopes Iran will respond to overtures on its nuclear program by September, “perhaps by the time of the UN General Assembly” which begins that month.

Israel’s foreign ministry in May accused Venezuela and Bolivia — which both severed ties with Israel in January over its deadly military assault on the Gaza Strip — of assisting Iran with its nuclear program, a charge rejected by La Paz.

Lieberman did not include Venezuela, Iran’s closest ally in the region.

Lieberman also visited Argentina, the country with the region’s largest Jewish community, on his Latin America trip, which concludes Tuesday in Colombia.

Iran insists it has the right to develop nuclear technology, which it says is aimed at generating energy for its growing population.

Israel is the only country in the Middle Ease that actually has nuclear weapons.

Observers say due the strong Jewish and pro-Israel lobbies in the US and some European countries, these countries have taken a hypocritical stance in relation to nuclear issues in the region.

Tehran had repeatedly protested against Israeli and US war threats, warning them that it would retaliate in the event of any strike against Iran.

Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 1979 Iranian revolution, which toppled the ruthless US-backed dictator, the shah.