Brazil's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency says that a new round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program would be pointless.
Imposing more sanctions on Tehran "will only lead to a hardening of the Iranian position," Ambassador Antonio Guerreiro said on Saturday.
| Iran's position started out at intransigent. How much harder can it get? A more important question, though, is why Brazil is chooses to speak for the Mad Mullahs. |
On Friday, Brazil abstained from the IAEA Board of Governors' vote to censure Iran over the construction of the Fordo enrichment plant.
Brazil abstained from voting because "dialogue is better than confrontation," Guerreiro, told the Brazilian daily O Globo.
| Sometimes confrontation is the dialogue, Senhor Guirreiro. |
The resolution by the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors, which was sponsored by Germany, calls on Iran to halt uranium enrichment and immediately freeze the construction of its Fordo nuclear facility, located near Qom.
"The resolution clears the way for sanctions ... and sanctions don't lead to anything," Guerreiro said.
| Actually, sanctions lead either to war or to surrender. Each is a very definite thing. |
The Fordo site will be Iran's second uranium enrichment plant, after the Natanz facility in central Iran, for the production of nuclear fuel enriched to a level of 5 percent.
Iran says its nuclear program is solely meant for civilian applications of the technology and has called for the total eradication of all weapons of mass destruction.
| Johnny von Neumann looked into that idea when he went in for game theory, and concluded that maintaining weapons superiority was the only way to prevent people who called for such things from acting very, very stupidly. |
Commenting on the fact that his country took up a non-permanent seat on the 15-member UN Security Council in January for a two-year term, the Brazilian diplomat said, "We will take advantage of that to help in the negotiations" with Iran.
"No countries make concessions under pressure," he noted.
| Actually, that should be, "Countries and people make concessions only under pressure, either real or perceived." |
Guerreiro said that "no evidence" has been found proving that Iran is building a nuclear weapon and added that the standoff over Iran's nuclear program is the result of "a mutual lack of confidence that has already lasted for quite some time."
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