AIRLINK 74.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.56 (-0.75%)
BOP 5.02 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.79%)
CNERGY 4.42 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.9%)
DFML 39.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.53 (-1.33%)
DGKC 86.09 Decreased By ▼ -1.46 (-1.67%)
FCCL 21.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-1.28%)
FFBL 34.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-1.68%)
FFL 9.92 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.74%)
GGL 10.56 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.67%)
HBL 113.89 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.09%)
HUBC 135.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.68 (-0.5%)
HUMNL 11.90 Increased By ▲ 1.00 (9.17%)
KEL 4.84 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.64%)
KOSM 4.53 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.37%)
MLCF 38.27 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-0.49%)
OGDC 134.85 Decreased By ▼ -1.29 (-0.95%)
PAEL 26.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.98%)
PIAA 20.80 Decreased By ▼ -1.69 (-7.51%)
PIBTL 6.68 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.15%)
PPL 123.00 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (0.58%)
PRL 26.69 Decreased By ▼ -0.28 (-1.04%)
PTC 14.33 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (3.02%)
SEARL 59.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.75 (-1.25%)
SNGP 69.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.56 (-0.8%)
SSGC 10.33 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.19%)
TELE 8.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.47%)
TPLP 11.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.97%)
TRG 64.85 Decreased By ▼ -1.15 (-1.74%)
UNITY 26.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.3%)
WTL 1.34 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.74%)
BR100 7,851 Increased By 26.3 (0.34%)
BR30 25,337 Decreased By -69.2 (-0.27%)
KSE100 75,207 Increased By 122.8 (0.16%)
KSE30 24,143 Increased By 49.1 (0.2%)

BRASILIA: Brazil said Friday it will maintain its dialogue with Iran under new President Dilma Rousseff, continuing a cordial relationship started under her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"We consider it in our interest to maintain a dialogue with the Iranian government, including as a way to reduce tensions, because isolation sometimes only exacerbates a worrying situation that could lead to a conflict," Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota told state television and radio.

The relationship with Tehran contributed to Brazil's aim of "contributing to world peace," he said.

Lula and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had friendly ties, underlined when Brazil and Turkey last year extracted a concession from Tehran to engage in a nuclear fuel swap deal.

That deal was ultimately shot down by the United States, which secured a new round of sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council as part of a campaign to pressure Iran over a suspected nuclear arms program.

Rousseff, who took over from Lula in January this year, has been more critical of Iran, notably on its human rights record and policies towards women, but she has not deviated from the lines set by her predecessor.

Patriota said her government would continue the same relationship with Iran.

He said Lula's approach "was not really about getting closer to President Ahmainejad's government, but more about contributing to creating trust between countries such as the United States and Iran, and contributing to a diplomatic solution for one of the more thorny and complicated issues on the international agenda."

Rousseff will have an opportunity to explore that issue further when she hosts a visit by US President Barack Obama next month. Her office said Obama would speak with her in Brasilia on March 19.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011

Comments

Comments are closed.