A great cooperation path is being reopened between Brazil and Iran. This is the main conclusion I bring from Tehran, where I went in an official visit some days ago.

Iran is passing through a phase of rapid international reinsertion. The milestone of this new step is the nuclear deal that the country signed in July with the group composed by the five United Nations Security Council members and Germany. The deal has stimulated intense diplomatic activity and a series of high level visits to Iran. Diplomatic bridges are being built or rebuilt.
Brazil celebrates the agreement. The understanding achieved is a victory of dialogue over confrontation. This is a traditional goal and a permanent inclination of Brazilian foreign politics. For more than half a century, while defending the reestablishment of relations between Brazil and the Soviet Union, Foreign Minister San Tiago Dantas taught: “Peace will not be kept if the price we have to pay for it is isolation”.
That was the spirit that motivated our partnership with Turkey in the negotiation of the Tehran Declaration in 2010 through which Iran accepted limitations to its nuclear program. The exercise of searching understanding was complex and difficult, but the costs of the stalemate were – and were shown to be – much higher.
As the vicious circle of sanctions, threats and military actions in Iraq and Libya have potently shown, the path of confrontation can have tragic consequences to the international order. The migration crisis, impelled by civil wars, sectarianism, institutional fragility and poverty is only the most evident expression of instability that affects different parts of the world.
The conclusion of the agreement will contribute to confidence building between the parts involved and to the promotion of stability in the Middle East. It was in this favorable scenery, that opens opportunities to Brazil, that I did my trip to Tehran.
Iran is our biggest trade partner in the region. There are wide opportunities to be explored by Brazilian companies in areas such as agribusiness, energy, mining and infrastructure. With the removal of United Nations Security Council sanctions, these trade and investment perspectives will be even more promising.             
In 2011, for example, the bilateral trade reached $ 2.3 billion, before being affected by the sanctions regime and fall to $ 1.4 billion last year.
We also want to reinforce the frank dialogue that has always characterized our political relationship with Iran. I was carrying the firm message of support and encouragement by the Brazilian government to the peaceful solution of disputes in the region.
 
Brazil has responded positively to the Iranian proposal to create a structured mechanism of dialogue on human rights. We are always faithful to the Brazilian perspective of full respect to the universality, integrality and indivisibility of human rights.
My visit to Tehran was the starting point of a series of high level bilateral visits that will enhance cooperation in different areas. The diversification of partnerships and the strengthening of our presence in the Middle East are a relevant part of the foreign policy strategy of President Dilma Roussef’s government. Apropos, President Dilma met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani days ago in New York, in which occasion they agreed to exchange bilateral visits. 
Our bonds of solidarity gained special visibility a few days ago, when a Brazilian Navy’s corvette diverted its way to Lebanon to integrate the United Nations mission in that country to rescue 220 refugees drifted away in the Mediterranean Sea, in an action that honors our Navy and country.
Intensifying its dialogue and engagement with partners in the Middle East, Brazil puts into practice the responsibility it shares to building solutions to the region and to a more prosperous, just and safe world.