By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: November 24, 2009
RIO DE JANEIRO — President Obama sent a letter on Sunday to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil reiterating the American position on Iran’s nuclear program, a day before Iran’s president made his first state visit to Brazil, an aide to Mr. da Silva said Tuesday.
Mr. Obama did not explicitly criticize Mr. da Silva for hosting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, implying instead that he hoped Mr. da Silva would use the occasion to express support for the international effort to forge a compromise on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to two American officials.
In the three-page letter, Mr. Obama restated his support for a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency that would try to steer Iran into developing nuclear energy for peaceful, civilian purposes. The proposed accord calls for Iran to export most of its enriched uranium for additional processing into a form that could be used in a medical reactor in Tehran.
Iran has so far declined to accept the proposal. Mr. da Silva on Monday reiterated his support for Iran’s right to develop its nuclear technology for use in energy production, just as Brazil has been doing.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian leader to visit Brazil in 44 years, came to Brasília on Monday. Mr. da Silva organized the visit as part of a diplomatic effort to help mediate tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. President Shimon Peres of Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, made separate visits to Brazil this month.
Mr. Obama has discussed Iran with Mr. da Silva before, expressing hopes at a meeting of the Group of 20 in April that Mr. da Silva could engage Mr. Ahmadinejad in a dialogue on the nuclear issue, according to American and Brazilian government officials.
But even before Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visit, there had been tension between the United States and Brazil over an American initiative to place more military personnel in Colombia and over the United States’ handling of the political crisis in Honduras.
Mr. Obama’s letter also discussed Honduras, as well as climate change talks in Copenhagen and the Doha round of trade talks. On Honduras, Mr. Obama justified American support for a presidential election there after the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya in June. Mr. Obama said in his letter that the situation would “start from zero” after the election, the Brazilian official said.
Brazil is opposed to the election, which is scheduled for Sunday, saying that it is inappropriate in light of Mr. Zelaya’s ouster, which Brazil and much of the world have labeled a coup. A Brazilian government spokesman said late Tuesday that Mr. da Silva had not yet responded to Mr. Obama’s letter and was considering telephoning him, rather than replying by letter.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/americas/25brazil.html?_r=1
Comments
Post a Comment