Analysts: Deals with Iran may hurt Brazil

BRASILIA, Brazil, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Brazil's signing of economic agreements with Iran may damage Brazil as a global influence, but shouldn't be viewed as against U.S. interests, observers say.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in Brazil Monday as part of his global effort to shore up ties with sympathetic nations while other countries seek to curtail Tehran's nuclear development.

Iran has been under pressure to abandon its nuclear program by Western countries that think Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran is facing possible additional economic sanctions and restrictions for failing, so far, to sign an agreement concerning the enrichment of uranium for use in Iran.

"Ahmadinejad wants to go wherever he's accepted and he wants to be lionized," said Robert Pastor, a national security adviser for former President Jimmy Carter.

"I can understand why Ahmadinejad would go to Brazil and Bolivia and Venezuela," Pastor said of the leader's Latin American mission. "What I can't understand is why Brazil would want to welcome him. Clearly, Brazil wants to be a major player in world affairs, but to do so requires some awareness of international relations."

Christopher Garman, an analyst with Eurasia Group consultants, told CNN Brazil has a record of working with non-aligned countries and has had ties with Iran for years.

"I would not characterize this as an anti-U.S. stance by Brazil," Garman said. "But Brazil will increasingly have to develop a well-thought-out and coherent foreign policy. Brazil is not going to be able to take controversial positions without paying a price for it."