April 11, The Iranian Project - Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accompanied by a high-ranking politico-economic delegation arrived in Brazil Tuesday (April 10) on the second leg of his four-nation African, South American tour.

While in Brasilia, Zarif addressed the opening of the Iran-Brazil Joint Trade Seminar, held separate talks with his Brazilian counterpart Aloysio Nunes and President Michel Temer

Upon arrival at Brazil’s airport, Zarif said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has a very clear position regarding chemical weapons and condemns their use by anyone, anywhere and against any country.

He added that the US government seems to be seeking an excuse to intervene in Syria.

Addressing the Iran-Brazil Joint Trade Seminar, the Iranian top diplomat urged the Brazilian government and economy activist to remove banking obstacles.

Zarif noted that the lack of banking transactions between Iran and Brazil is one of the main obstacles hindering the development of bilateral relations between the two countries and we expect the Brazilian government and economic sector find a solution for this problem.

Moreover, Zarif and his Brazilian counterpart discussed a host of issues in areas of politics, science, and trade.

Also in this meeting, the two sides conferred on many avenues of increasing trade and economic transactions between the two countries, especially in areas of energy, knowledge-based firms, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals.

Joint cooperation to retail Iranian oil products and exchange of technical delegations to establish organized relations between Tehran and Mercosur (a trade bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) were among the other issues the two diplomats conferred on in the meeting.

Zarif in a meeting with Brazilian president welcomed Brazil’s investment in the country’s oil and gas sector, calling for expansion of economic ties and reaching a balance in trade transactions between the two countries. He also deemed cooperation in energy, transit, agriculture and advanced technologies ‘complementary’ due to the two countries’ current progress.

Temer, for his part, voiced Brazil’s keen interest in expanding relations with Iran and developing cooperation on advanced technologies, and called for exchanging delegations and increasing contacts between the two sides.

Foreign Minister Zarif heading a delegation ended his day-long stay in Brazil and arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Wednesday (April 11).