Brazilian president vows to shield nation from Mideast conflict's economic fallout

Brasilia, April 3 Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday said he couldn't predict when the US-Israeli strikes against Iran might end, but vowed to shield Brazilians from the economic impact of the conflict.

In an interview with local television station Record Bahia, Lula da Silva stressed the uncertainty surrounding the duration of the conflict.

"The war goes on, ... The concrete fact I can offer is that we are making every possible effort to prevent the irresponsible war on Iran from affecting people's pocketbooks," Lula da Silva said.

"We will not allow the international price increase to impact the truck driver's pocket, to impact the people, the housewife's pocketbook. That is why we are taking many measures. We have a very serious oversight process underway in Brazil," he added.

The president warned against speculation in the domestic fuel market and announced tighter controls to prevent price gouging, saying security forces are involved in monitoring efforts to detect potential irregularities in the distribution chain.

According to him, his government has also taken tax exemption and subsidy measures to contain fuel price increases on the domestic market, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on April 1, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had said that the United States has fabricated a lie as a pretext to launch an 'unnecessary war' against Iran.

"The United States got involved in an unnecessary war in Iran, claiming that Iran had nuclear weapons or that they were trying to make nuclear weapons. That's a lie!" Lula had said during an interview in Brazil's northeastern state of Ceara.

He said the United States has repeatedly waged wars based on lies, citing Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction that were never found.

"That's just a pretext ... and war has never solved anything," Lula had said.

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