The Race for Iran, 06/10/10
As has been widely reported, the vote on yesterday’s Iran sanctions resolution in the United Nations Security Council was 12-2; Brazil and Turkey both voted against the resolution, while Lebanon abstained. We want to highlight two statements (both appended below) by Brazil’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, that offer important insights into the rationale for Brazil’s opposition to the resolution, and its approach to the Iranian nuclear issue more generally.
The first statement is a formal Explanation of Vote, offered in the Security Council yesterday. The second statement was made to the Council on June 8, during final deliberations on the draft sanctions resolution before proceeding to a final vote. Among other things, these statements affirm many of the points that we have made about the significance of the Joint Declaration that Brazil and Turkey brokered with the Islamic Republic last month—its significance in terms of both the diplomacy surrounding the Iranian nuclear issue and the changing structure of international relations.
Brazil Portal 