Pakistan: Turkey, Brazil reject Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON: The leaders of Turkey and Brazil have informed the US President that they are still opposed to imposing sanctions on Iran. In a meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC on Tuesday, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey opposed the US calls for sanctions to be imposed on Iran. The two leaders advised President Obama to seek a “negotiated solution” to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program in order to avoid imposing new UN sanctions on the country.

The meeting, which was not on the agenda and lasted barely 15 minutes, focused “exclusively on Iran,” Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told sources. It was “a frank, sincere exchange,” Amorin said, adding that President Lula had asked President Obama to “give a chance” to further negotiations.
However, both leaders failed to obtain a firm response from the US President that he would “wait” on the sanctions issue, the Brazilian foreign minister said. But President Obama’s reaction “was not categorical,” Amorim noted, adding that the US leader is “not at all negative about attempting a negotiated solution.”