Ahmadinejad visits Brazil

BRASILIA, Brazil, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran, Brazil and Venezuela can be part of a new world order.

Ahmadinejad traveled to Brazil, part of a quest for economic opportunities ahead of possible sanctions.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has come under international criticism for playing host to the Iranian leader, who left Tehran Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"New orders should be established in the world," Iranian state television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. "Iran, Brazil and Venezuela in particular can have determining roles in designing and establishing these new orders."

In Brazil, Ahmadinejad and Lula are expected to sign biotechnology, energy and agriculture cooperation agreements.

Ahmadinejad is traveling to Africa and South America to seek new economic opportunities as Western leaders threaten sanctions and economic restrictions if negotiations on Iran's nuclear development program fail.

The U.S. government and Western analysts expressed concern that Brazil's reception of Ahmadinejad could imply approval of Iran's resistance to international pressure to abandon its nuclear enrichment efforts, the Times said. Iran says the program is for peaceful uses but Western nations suspect its goal is to develop a nuclear weapon.

Analysts also question how Lula may be using his new-found stature as a global leader by welcoming Ahmadinejad.

"The Ahmadinejad visit is cause to question the ends to which Brazil might seek to use its burgeoning global profile," Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas in Washington, told the newspaper.