Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a meeting with the American Secretary of State said his country would continue its relations with Tehran.

The President also stressed that he was seeking a peaceful solution for Iran’s nuclear issue.

And Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim after a meeting with Clinton in a news conference said the Brazilian President is trying to hold meetings with the world leaders over Iran’s nuclear issue after his visit to Iran.

He added that Brasilia is still hopeful of continuing talks about the issue.

Washington was seeking to dissuade Brazil from political and trade relations with Iran.

Clinton will visit Costa Rica and Guatemalais after Brazil. She had already travelled to Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

The Iranian president says the country’s judicial system is responsible for issuing a ruling in the case of the three American hikers who were arrested near Iran’s border with Iraq on July 31.

Iran charged Shane Michael Bauer, Joshua Felix Fattal, and Sarah Emily Shourd with espionage on November 9.

The three entered the country to carry out acts of espionage, Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said at the time.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Brasilia on Monday that the Judiciary will determine whether the hikers will be released or punished, but added that he hopes a lenient verdict will be issued.

He made the comments two days after Iraq had reportedly contacted Tehran to secure the release of the detained US citizens.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has resisted Israeli pressure over an upcoming visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to his country.

“You do not build peace if you do not talk to all political and religious forces, those that want peace and those that oppose peace,” DPA quoted Lula as saying at a joint press conference with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Brasilia.

“We need to talk more and to find more partners who want to help in peace-building in the Middle East. And we do not refuse to talk to anyone, as long as in that chat we can get a word, or at least a comma, that might help build peace,” he said.

“You know that there will be no peace without political concessions,” the Brazilian President said, addressing Peres directly.

Ahmadinejad is expected in Brazil on November 23.

With the Iranian president scheduled to set out on a state visit to Brazil next month, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Tehran and Brasilia share the same stance on peaceful nuclear activities.

“The two countries have a common position in relation to peaceful nuclear activities and insist on [defending their] rights,” Mottaki was quoted as saying by the Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo in a conference in Tehran.

Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at the civilian applications of the technology and has called for the removal of weapons of mass destruction from around the globe. Western countries, however, accuse it of seeking nuclear weaponry.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has defended Iran’s right to a peaceful nuclear program, press tv reported.

Referring to the Brazilian president’s stance, Mottaki described the joint position of Iran and Brazil as “peaceful nuclear energy for everyone, and nuclear weapons for no one.”

Iran’s ambassador to Brasilia Mohsen Shaterzadeh said on Tuesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Brazil on November 23.

Addressing university students in Brasilia, Shaterzadeh said Brazilians will be pleased to hear what President Ahmadinejad has in store for them.

“I am sure that people of Brazil will hear good news from President Ahmadinejad,” the Iranian envoy said.