Brazil's president condemns sanctions against Iran

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Sunday that more talks had to replace harsher sanctions in dealing with Iran's nuclear work.

"I think there are a lot of sanctions and not enough conversations with Iran," Lula said during an interview with three French media, TV5 Monde, RFI radio and Le Monde newspaper.

He urged leaders of world powers to 'stop punishing' Iran, which he said could backfire and make it 'harder to reach an agreement'.

The US and Israel along with some other Western countries accuse Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, an allegation rejected outright by Tehran.

The veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council -- the US, Britain, China, France and Russia -- plus Germany (P5+1) have called on Iran to 'engage in direct talks based on mutual respect'.

The six major world powers want Iran to respond to the offer of talks by agreeing to meet before the UN General Assembly meeting in late September.

Iran says it is open to talks but will not compromise on its rights as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which grants its members the right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology.

In exchange for certain political and economic incentives, the world powers demand that Iran halt its uranium enrichment activities.

Apart from US unilateral sanctions, Iran is under UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions over its nuclear program.