This is a guest post by Kenneth Bandler of AJC.

Wrapping up his whirlwind Latin America tour, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must have been very pleased that he had cancelled his previously planned visit to Brazil in May. No doubt his host, Brazilian President President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is similarly delighted. Each is enjoying international attention as leaders in their respective regions of the world.

Iran recently earned a place at the table with the United States, France, Germany and Russia to discuss face-to-face in Vienna its nuclear program. But, in reality, little if anything has changed in terms of stopping Tehran’s determination to cross the nuclear threshold. While Western powers at the Vienna table thought Iran was agreeable to the proposal to export enriched uranium to Russia or France to produce fuel rods for Iranian medical research and other clear civilian purposes, Tehran has steadfastly resisted delivering a clear response. But that is typical of the encounters with Iran, which has defiantly ignored a series of UN Security Council resolutions, appeals from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the lingering threat of additional sanctions.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad continues to threaten to destroy Israel, and to deny the Holocaust — yes, he did it again in an interview on Brazil’s national TV — while openly testing missiles that one day could deliver nuclear weapons. And, Iran’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah, Islamist terror organizations situated on Israel’s borders, continues unimpeded.

The Iranian ship Israel’s navy captured earlier this month in the Mediterranean Sea as it sailed to make a delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon carried quantities of weapons far exceeding those found aboard the Karine A, which also originated from Iran and was seized by Israel in January 2002, as it headed to Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority in Gaza.

But this ongoing strong support for international terrorists does not seem to bother Brazil’s president, even though Interpol has identified several Iranian officials as playing key roles in Hezbollah’s bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994.

President Lula welcomed Ahmadinejad to Brasilia with a warm embrace. Given the openness of the United States and other UN Security Council permanent members to talking, indeed negotiating, with Iran on its nuclear program, Brazil’s posture really should not be a surprise.

“We recognize Iran’s right to develop a peaceful nuclear program in compliance with international accords,” President Lula declared at a joint news conference with Ahamadinejad. “I encourage you to continue engaging interested countries to seek a just and balanced solution on the Iranian nuclear issue.”

This first visit in more than 60 years of an Iranian head of state came at a point when the largest nation in South America had already achieved new levels of international acclaim.

Much has happened in the five months since Ahmadinejad decided at the last minute to not go to Brazil in early May. In October, the International Olympic Committee selected Brazil to host the 2016 summer games, and Brazil also has been selected to host the premier international soccer tournament, the World Cup, in 2014.

Preparations for these two global sports events will further embolden Lula’s aspirations to play the quintessential global diplomat. Ahmadinejad’s visit this week, after all, came after the visits of Israeli President Shimon Peres and, separately, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This raised speculation in some media that Brazil, if not Lula himself, could play a role in forging Arab-Israeli peace.

If the Brazilian leader does try, however, he will soon learn that the path to Arab-Israeli peace is paved with obstacles, and, moreover, that the major achievements in peacemaking, like Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and even the Olso Accords Israel signed with the PLO, resulted from direct negotiations between the parties.

Nonetheless, such political realities are unlikely to alter the impression that Brasilia has become a must destination for leaders of other countries. And, that, in turn, will certainly encourage President Lula’s campaign for an expanded number of permanent members seats of the UN Security Council, one of which Brazil would occupy. Gaining the support of Iran and the wider Islamic world will be important.

But, if Brazil does want to continue to play constructively on the world stage, it will need to recognize the inherent risks of cozying up to a country like Iran whose nuclear ambitions and support for terrorism threaten global security. For starters, President Lula should speak to Argentine President President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.