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Iran and Brazil. My, oh, my. How times can change in the realpolitik world of international diplomacy.

It just seemed like yesterday that Turkey, Brazil
and Iran announced with great fanfare the nuclear fuel swap deal meant
to stave off new UN sanctions.

Going into the negotiatoins, Brazil had a clear mission at the time. 

Once the deal was done, in May last year, it was
triumphed by the principals involved as a sign that international
diplomacy can be accomplished - thank you very much - amongst developing
powers without the influence of Europe or the US.

But the deal was quickly brushed off, as a Reuters headline said at the time, by "an unconvinced West”.

Regardless of the blocking of the well-intentioned
accord, the signing of it culminated what many believed at the time
would be a longstanding Turkey-Brazil-Iran diplomatic power triangle -
with Turkey famously bridging the Europe-Arab World divide and the brash
new kid on the block, Brazil, bridging the North America-South divide.
In the middle, Iran.  

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