For Brazilian president Lula da Silva, mediating between the United States and Iran seemed like a win-win proposition. American officials were moving slowly in pursuit of a tough sanctions resolution at the United Nations Security Council, and Iran’s nuclear program was racing forward. If Lula tried to forge a new agreement and failed, well, at least he had demonstrated his commitment to nuclear security and peaceful diplomacy. If Lula succeeded, he would garner international acclaim and improve Brazil’s chances of gaining a permanent seat on the Security Council. Perhaps Lula would even be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize.

As it turned out, he did succeed in helping Tehran launch a diplomatic ploy based on a meaningless uranium-swap deal. Unfortunately for Lula, while he was smiling and raising arms triumphantly with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Obama administration was finally making progress in drafting a new sanctions resolution supported by Russia and China. Lula appeared to be siding with Iran against the United States. This impression was reinforced by the widely seen picture of him celebrating the uranium deal with Ahmadinejad and Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip