Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was on Sunday meeting Iranian leaders at the start of a visit the West says might be Tehran’s last chance to avoid new UN sanctions over its nuclear programme.
Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister of neighbouring Turkey, the other key mediator in the standoff, meanwhile flew into Tehran on Sunday and was expected to join the talks, the Mehr news agency reported.
Mr Lula, who heads a 300-strong delegation, was officially welcomed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Sunday morning before the two leaders went into the talks, Iranian news agencies reported. A number of trade agreements were to be signed later in the day.
Mr Lula is also expected to meet Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all key policy issues. Ahead of his trip, Mr Lula told reporters in Moscow he was “optimistic” and hoped to be able to persuade Mr Ahmadinejad to reach an agreement with the West. “I must now use everything I have learned over my long political career to convince my friend Mr Ahmadinejad to come to an agreement with the international community,” he said.
But the United States and Russia have already said the chances of success are weak, while Turkey appears to have given up any hope of its neighbour avoiding sanctions over its controversial nuclear drive. —AFP