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Argentina’s Grossi elected head of UN’s nuclear watchdog
VIENNA, Oct 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Argentina’s Rafael Grossi was elected on
Tuesday to head the UN’s nuclear watchdog, which is tasked in particular with
monitoring the implementation of the increasingly shaky Iran nuclear deal.
Grossi beat Romanian diplomat Cornel Feruta to become director general of
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following the death of the
former head Yukiya Amano of Japan in July.
The election of Grossi, Argentinia’s ambassador to the IAEA, comes at a
critical time for the Vienna-based agency as Iran is decreasing its
commitments under the 2015 landmark deal.
US President Donald Trump last year withdrew from the agreement and
proceeded to re-introduce sanctions, leaving Iran to press the remaining
signatories to hold up economic benefits in return for its nuclear programme
cutbacks.
Grossi received 24 votes to Feruta’s 10 from the IAEA’s 35-member Board of
Governors in the third official round of voting, reaching the two-thirds
majority needed to become the new director general, according to a diplomatic
source.
“With Rafael Grossi securing a qualified majority in the board of
governors, IAEA has taken a decisive step towards electing its director
general,” Xavier Sticker, the French ambassador to the United Nations in
Vienna, said on Twitter.
An IAEA general conference is expected to approve the board’s choice.
Feruta had been the organisation’s acting director general since the death of
Amano, who had led the agency since 2009.
– ‘Broker for all’ –
Grossi, who becomes the first IAEA head from Latin America and is believed
to have had the backing of the US, has said he wants to be “an honest broker
for all” without a “hidden agenda”.
“My approach with Iran will be very firm but very fair,” the 58-year-old
told AFP in a September interview.
Grossi, a seasoned diplomat, became Argentina’s permanent representative
to the United Nations in Vienna in 2013.
Prior to that he was at the IAEA from 2010, latterly as the assistant
director general for policy and chief of cabinet.
Both Grossi and Feruta had been lobbying strongly for the post with two
other contenders — Lassina Zerbo of Burkina Faso and Marta Ziakova of
Slovakia — dropping out earlier in the race.
“I think Grossi’s style would be to shake things up a little more,” one
diplomat told AFP ahead of this week’s voting, describing the Argentinian as
hard-working and engaged.
“You can’t fault his work ethic,” the diplomat added.
The IAEA is tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities to ensure
they abide by the terms of the 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Tensions have been escalating between Iran and the United States since May
last year when Trump pulled out of the nuclear accord and began reimposing
sanctions.
The remaining partners in the deal with Iran are Britain, China, France,
Germany and Russia.
The European parties have repeatedly said they are committed to saving the
accord, but their efforts have so far borne little fruit.
Tehran has already hit back three times with countermeasures in response
to the US withdrawal from the deal.
On July 1, Iran said it had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to
beyond a 300-kilogramme maximum set by the deal, and a week later it
announced it had exceeded a 3.67-percent cap on the purity of its uranium
stocks.
In its latest move it fired up advanced centrifuges to boost its enriched
uranium stockpiles on September 7.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1838 hrs