Tehran - Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim arrived in Tehran on Saturday to prepare for the upcoming Iran-Brazil summit, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Amorim conveyed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the written approval of President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva for attending the summit in Tehran in the near future, without however setting a specific date.

"We welcome the visit of President Lula de Silva and hope that the summit will lead to strengthening of friendship between the two nations," Ahmadinejad told Amorim.

IRNA quoted also Amorim as hoping that the summit would expand bilateral ties and lead to a new political and economic world order.

Amorim's three-day visit to Tehran is also aimed at implementing bilateral economic agreements made earlier between the two countries.

"We should indeed seek a new world order as the existing global system is decaying," Ahmadinejad said.

Since the presidency of Ahmadinejad in August 2005, Islamic Iran has expanded its ties with socialist countries in Latin America such as Brazil, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Observers however believe that neither political nor economic ties with Latin America would help Iran overcome the international isolation and financial sanctions imposed on the country due to its defiance to suspend its controversial nuclear enrichment programmes.

In a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Amorim termed Iran as an important country in the Middle East and therefore important for Brazil.

"The Iran-Brazil ties have a great potential and I am the first Brazilian foreign minister to visit Tehran in the last 13 years to expand bilateral ties and reactivate bilateral commissions," the Brazilian top diplomat said.

The annual trade volume between the two countries currently stands at 2 billion dollars which is however not balanced as the main part is dominated by Brazilian exports to Iran.

"We will increase the credits in order to gain the desired balance and will hold the first meeting of the economic commission next year in Brazil," Mottaki said.

Mottaki said that Iran has common political viewpoints with Latin American states on world affairs and termed this as the main reason for Iran to expand and deepen bilateral ties. (dpa)