Brazil to Clinton on Iran Sanctions: “Count Us Out!”

Ray Walser / March 04, 2010

It appears that Secretary Clinton’s much anticipated meeting with Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim on March 3 resulted in the diplomatic cold shoulder with regard to cooperative action aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

While in Brazil on her Latin America swing, Secretary Clinton made quite clear the U.S. wants to “send a unified message to Iran that they are perfectly free to have peaceful, civil nuclear power. But they are not, under the very agreements that they signed, entitled to a nuclear weapons program. “Her goal was to open Brazilian eyes to the Iranian danger just as Obama Administration eyes have opened recently.

The Brazilian response to international actions to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions remains negative.  Foreign Minister Amorim opposes “pushing Iran into a corner.”  If new sanctions proposals reach the Security Council, where Brazil holds a temporary seat, Amorim warned: “We will not simply bow down to an evolving consensus if we do not agree.” (more…)