Arash Aramesh

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began his official visit this week to Africa and South America by travelling to Gambia and Brazil. Ahmadinejad’s presence has received widespread media attention in Iran and abroad. This is the first time an Iranian president has made a state visit to Brazil.

The conservative daily Kayhan writes, “Ahmadinejad in Brazil. The Zionists did not succeed in their disruption plans.” Kahyan writes that Israeli President Shimon Perez traveled to Brazil and Argentina recently in order to discourage Iran’s growing influence in the region. This visit came after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman traveled to Latin America, urging regional leaders not to sell fuel to Iran or to cooperate with the Islamic Republic on any front.

Therefore, despite Israel’s attempts, Ahmadinejad is being warmly accepted. Iran’s state-run media is calling Ahmadinejad’s visit to Brazil a “victory” for Iran and a major diplomatic defeat for Israel.

Ahmadinejad has visited Venezuela and Bolivia several times in the past. According to the BBC Persian Service, Ahmadinejad was scheduled to visit Brazil this past spring, but the visit was canceled after U.S. officials expressed concern that Iran was expanding its influence in the region.

The U.S. military presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf has motivated the Islamic Republic to expand ties with left-leaning and at times anti-American governments in Latin America. Iran’s warm and expanding relationships with Venezuela and Bolivia are signs of Iran’s intentions to increase its presence in the United States’ backyard. Now, Brazil, a major Latin country with good relations with Washington, is going to become another economic and perhaps diplomatic partner for the Islamic Republic.

According to official and semi-official Iranian news agencies, such as IRNA and FARS, President President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government has been supportive of Iran’s peaceful nuclear ambitions and ignored calls by Israel and the United States to pressure and isolate Iran. According to FARS, Ahmadinejad pledged to expand Iran’s relations with Brazil.

Instead of focusing on deals being made between the two countries, the Iranian state-run media focused on demonstrations held by “homosexuals” and “those claiming to be holocaust survivors.” Kayhan writes that there were only a few hundred demonstrators protesting Ahmadinejad’s visit. Kahyan adds, “A few weeks ago when Shimon Perez visited Brazil, thousands of protestors demonstrated against Perez’s visit and the policies of the state of Israel.”