Brazil's Lula to urge Iran against nuclear bomb
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday he would try to use Brazil's influence to persuade Iran not to develop nuclear weapons when he visits Tehran next month. Brazil, whose trade ties with Iran have strengthened in recent years, has offered to help mediate in the stand-off between the West and Tehran over its nuclear program, while arguing that new sanctions would be counter-productive.
"I hope that we can convince our Iranian friends against taking a hasty step toward developing nuclear weapons," Lula told reporters in Brasilia. He added he would also keep working to persuade permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that sanctions against Iran would solve "absolutely nothing." (Reuters)
