Under Lula’s leadership the Tehran-Rio de Janeiro ties have flourished and it is widely expected Rousseff will continue her predecessor’s foreign policies.
During his eight years in office, Lula set his stamp on Brazilian diplomacy throughout the world. Before the polls, Michel Alaby, the secretary general of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, said if Rousseff is elected president, she will be “more comfortable to maintain the foreign policy” than her challengers.
In a visit to the Jewish Federation of the State of Sao Paulo on September 13, Rousseff defended her country’s relations with Tehran and explained that the government's approach with Iran represented a commitment to peace.
"Brazil has to maintain relations with several countries. In the case of Iran, what we advocate is that the best strategy is not war, is not isolation," Rousseff was quoted by Xinhua.
"We have the dramatic experience in Iraq and Afghanistan that lead us to that conclusion. We are a peaceful people," she added.
Iran-Brazil ties
Under Lula’s leadership Brazil and the Islamic Republic have enjoyed friendly ties. On May 17, Lula, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan negotiated a uranium swap deal in Tehran as a solution to the controversy over Iran's nuclear program.
Iran-Brazil bilateral ties were cemented by the trilateral Tehran Agreement which endorsed a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear program.
Under the deal, Tehran agreed to ship the bulk of its 3.5 percent low-enriched uranium to Turkey for deposit in exchange for 120 kg of 20 percent enriched uranium to power its medical research reactor.
Although the agreement was described by Lula as a "victory for diplomacy," it did not prevent UN Security Council to impose new sanctions on Iran. Brazil and Turkey, as non-permanent members of the SC, voted against the sanctions.
Earlier in November 2009, Ahmadinejad visited Brazil, in a tour of South American countries, which included Bolivia and Venezuela as well.
Trade between the two nations has been on the rise in the recent years. In December 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data analyzed by the Latin Business Chronicle confirmed that Iran-Latin American trade soared 209% in 2008, totaling in $2.9 billion. According to the IMF data, Brazil remains Iran’s main trading partner and exporter in Latin America at a total of $1.26 billion in 2008, up 88% from the previous year.
Behrouz Alishiri, head of an Iranian government body promoting investment in the Islamic state, said in May trade between Iran and Brazil could increase nearly five-fold to some $10 billion particularly in industry, trade, energy and technology.
Brazil is South America’s second largest oil producer, after Venezuela while Iran is the world’s fourth largest. Brazilian state oil company Petrobras raised $70 billion in September, its biggest share offering, to build muscle to exploit its offshore oil reserves. In the pipeline is the world’s largest exploration plan, which at $224 billion for the 2010-2014 period aims to turn Brazil into a major energy exporter.
It is widely believed that the deep waters of Brazil’s southern coast are said to hold 50 billion barrels of crude. These substantial offshore oil reserves have been recently discovered in Brazil. Exploration and extraction of these reserves requires technical know-how and experience.
Iran Offshore Oil Company has the expertise and the experience needed to develop the infrastructure that is crucial to explore Brazil’s oil reserves. An improved synergy between the two countries can help realize Brazil’s goal of becoming a major oil exporter in the future.
SJ/MNA
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MNA