Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged to increase ties with Latin America and said relations with Brazil have “no limits.”

“With friends, we have no limits,” Ahmadinejad told reporters today in New York, where he attended the United Nations General Assembly meeting. “We are willing to collaborate in all different themes with Brazil.”

Ahmadinejad convened a roundtable with Spanish-speaking reporters. “Countries like Iran, Venezuela and Brazil are independent countries that are walking towards progress,” he said.

Asked if Iran has military bases in Venezuela, Ahmadinejad said no. He criticized the increase in number of U.S. military bases around the world, including in Latin America, in his speech yesterday at the General Assembly.

Colombia prompted criticism from neighboring countries after reaching an agreement to allow the U.S. military to use Colombian bases for anti-drug operations.

“The build-up of military bases is of no help to the people,” Ahmadinejad said. “What the people in the world need is an educational relationship, to eradicate poverty.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday he will visit Tehran next year and that Ahmadinejad will visit Brazil in November.

Chavez Accord

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has reached an agreement with Ahmadinejad to invest $760 million in each other’s oil fields as the two leaders seek to deepen ties against what Chavez has called “the North American empire.” Iran has also promised investments in the energy and petrochemical industries of Chavez’s allies Ecuador and Bolivia.

Chavez addressed the General Assembly today. Ahmadinejad spoke yesterday, using his speech to criticize the U.S. and Israel and prompting a walkout of American diplomats.

Ahmadinejad met with reporters after U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the UN Security Council it must weigh stronger action against Iran to head off the development of a nuclear weapon by the country.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy also said the Security Council must deal with Iranian defiance of international demands to curb its nuclear work and open it to full inspections.

Ahmadinejad, in his comments to reporters, reiterated that Iran doesn’t intend to build a nuclear bomb and defended the country’s right to use nuclear power as a “clean energy, which benefits the environment.”

“Any country in the world has the right to use it,” he said. “Any prohibition or obstacle goes against recognized international laws.”

Geneva Meeting

On Oct. 1, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will send representatives to meet with Iranian diplomats in Geneva.

The group is planning to maintain a “double-track approach,” which means holding out the prospect of negotiations with Iran while also being prepared to take further Security Council action if talks on Iran’s nuclear program prove fruitless.

The Security Council has already passed three rounds of sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fabiola Moura in New York at fdemoura@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 24, 2009 21:22 EDT