Argentina's Grossi to Head IAEA

EghtesadOnline: Argentina’s Rafael Grossi has secured the backing of enough countries on the UN nuclear watchdog’s board to become the head of the agency, succeeding Yukiya Amano who died in office, diplomats who followed the vote said on Tuesday.

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30 October 2019

Grossi, 58, is currently Argentina’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency and a veteran of nuclear diplomacy. He was in a close-fought race against Romania’s Cornel Feruta, formerly Amano’s right-hand man and currently IAEA’s acting director general.

Previous votes by countries on IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors had failed to produce a clear winner but eliminated two other candidates. On Tuesday, Grossi obtained the two-thirds of votes required, with 24 countries supporting him, 10 backing Feruta and one abstaining, diplomats said.

Tuesday’s vote paves the way for Grossi to become the next director general but must still be signed off by the board, which aims to approve the winner by consensus, and by a larger meeting of all IAEA member states, both of which are considered a formality, Financial Tribune reported.

Diplomats do not expect major shifts under Grossi on the agency’s most high-profile issues, such as verifying Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.