Lula adamant on Iran talks

Brazil’s president seeks to fulfill his pledge to examine all diplomatic options in ending the standoff over Iran’s civilian nuclear program.

In a newspaper interview published on Sunday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stressed that he was not losing heart in ending the nuclear standoff.

“I want to exhaust every possibility up until the last minute of finding a pact with the president of Iran so that it can carry on enriching uranium but assuring us that it’s only for peaceful purposes,” he told El Pais.

The remarks come as Brazil and Turkey — both temporary members of the UN Security Council — have been pushing for agreements on a nuclear fuel swap proposal between Iran and nuclear-armed powers, France, Russia and the US.

On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast welcomed the efforts as productive and rejected US allegations that Tehran is trying to buy time through the negotiations.

Both Brasilia and Ankara have repeatedly voiced their opposition to a new round of US-proposed sanctions against Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will hold talks with Lula in Tehran at the end of next week over the nuclear standoff.