Ahmadinejad has no future: Peres

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has no future, his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres said in an interview published on Sunday.

Speaking during an official visit to Brazil -- the first by an Israeli president in 43 years -- Peres told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia the hardline Iranian leader needed a more constructive attitude.

Peres' South American trip is aimed at countering Iranian influence in the region and comes ahead of a visit to Brasilia by Ahmadinejad on November 23.

"Of course we spoke a lot about Iran (during the visit)," Peres said, "(But) I do not think their president has a future."

"It is not enough to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in this region and around the world to buy influence, places and people," Peres said.

"He needs to have a positive message for his people and for the world. This is a president who calls for the destruction of another country and who denies the Holocaust, even though there are still thousands and thousands of survivors living in Israel who have the Nazi number on their arms.

"Iran destroys Lebanon by supporting Hezbollah and dividing the country. It provides arms to Hamas in Gaza and tries to destroy its government, president Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority," Peres told the newspaper.

The Israeli president is due to leave Brazil on Sunday to travel to Argentina as he continues his South American tour.

Ahmadinejad, who has in the past called for Israel to be wiped off the map, is expected to use talks with the Brazil to develop trade links between the two countries.