The international community, including Turkey and Brazil, is in staunch opposition to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We are also dedicated to achieving a world without nuclear weapons.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will today kick off his three-day state visit to Turkey with the aim of strengthening economic and commercial relations with that country. The South African delegation will engage their Turkish counterparts during a business forum to be held on Tuesday, where Motlanthe will also use this opportunity to invite Turkish companies to invest in South Africa.

Yet the real meaning of the nuclear deal has gone largely overlooked: The dominant trend of the early 21st century is the rise of democratic powers to positions of regional and even global influence.

Turkey’s mercurial leader is clearly a man on the move – and he is taking his country along for the ride. A decade ago a somewhat cautious American ally and Nato member, Turkey today is becoming a force to contend with, particularly in the Middle East, a region it had kept at an arm’s length for decades.

The visit this week to Tehran by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was a rare show of personal, high-stakes diplomacy by a pair of world leaders.

"Diplomacy emerged victorious," Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared on May 17, after his country and Turkey signed its sketchy nuclear deal with Iran. That was something of a reach. But, if not victorious, diplomacy was taking a rare turn on center stage...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened top advisers Tuesday to assess an Iranian nuclear deal with Turkey and Brazil that may stall the new U.N. sanctions Israel seeks against Tehran, officials said. The unscheduled inner cabinet meeting, accompanied by an announcement from Netanyahu's office that ministers were under orders to withhold public comment, reflected Israel's worries about the efficacy of foreign efforts to negotiate with Iran.

Two leaders from two big regional powers, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, took a risk in traveling to Iran and negotiating over the country's contentious nuclear programme. Many said they would fail.