Lula backs Iran’s nuclear program
Ahmadinejad says U.S., Israel lack ‘courage’ to attack:

BRASILIA (Agencies) – Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has offered his backing for Tehran’s nuclear program.

Speaking at a joint news conference in the capital Brasilia on Monday after holding talks with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his visiting Iranian counterpart, Lula said Brazil backed Iran’s quest for “peaceful nuclear energy in full respect of international accords”.

According to Al-Jazeera, Lula urged Ahmadinejad to “continue contacts with interested countries for a just and balanced solution on the nuclear issue in Iran”.

In his weekly radio address earlier, Lula said engaging Iran instead of isolating it was the way to push for peace and stability in the Middle East.

“It doesn’t help isolating Iran,” he said. “It’s important that someone sits down with Iran, talks with Iran and tries to establish some balance so that the Middle East can return to a certain sense of normalcy.”

Lula, who honed his negotiating skills as a union leader, says a new tactic is needed with the Iranians.

“I told President (Barack) Obama, I told President (Nicolas) Sarkozy, I told (German) Chancellor Angela Merkel that we will not get good things out of Iran if we corner them. You need to create space to talk,” he said last month.

Security Council ‘failure’

Ahmadinejad, for his part, supported Brazil’s bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Brazil is to take one of the 10 non-permanent seats - those without the power of veto - in 2010 and 2011.

“We support a reformed UN Security Council and for Brazil to have a permanent seat,” Ahmadinejad said.

He said the council “has failed over the past 60 years because of the veto power of a small number of countries, a source of insecurity for several countries in the world”.

The first visit by Ahmadinejad to Brazil provides Lula an opportunity to boost the international political clout of South America’s largest nation, analysts said.

Ahmadinejad’s trip follows visits in the past two weeks by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Shimon Peres, his Israeli counterpart, who called on Lula to use Brazil’s influence to help curb Iran’s nuclear program.

U.S., Israel lack ‘courage’ to attack: Ahmadinejad

President Ahmadinejad said U.S. and Israeli military threats against Iran were a thing of the past, and that, in any case, “they don’t have the courage” to attack Iran.

“The age of military attacks is over, now we’ve reached the time for dialogue and understanding. Weapons and threats are a thing of the past,” AFP quoted Ahmadinejad as telling reporters.

Fielding a question on whether he feared an attack from Israel or the United States, Ahmadinejad said armed confrontation was no longer a possibility.

That’s clear “even for mentally challenged people,” he said with a smile.

Besides, he added, “those you mention (Israel and United States) don’t have the courage to attack Iran. They’re not even thinking about it.

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