Iran Urges IAEA’s Impartial Conduct as New Chief Takes Helm

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s Foreign Ministry congratulated Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi on taking office as the new director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, calling on the IAEA to keep performing its duties professionally and evenhandedly.

In a statement on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi congratulated Grossi on being elected as the new IAEA Director General, and wished him luck in his serious post.

Pointing to the very sensitive and important responsibility that the IAEA member states have put on the agency in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as well as the promotion of peaceful nuclear cooperation, Mousavi expressed hope that the IAEA would carry out its duties and delicate international missions impartially and professionally to the utmost.  

The spokesman also highlighted the IAEA’s unique role in relation to the nuclear aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] and the agency’s significant role in Iran’s peaceful nuclear cooperation with the other member states, adding, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to maintain and expand constructive interaction and cooperation with the agency, coupled with goodwill and mutual respect and on the basis of the organization’s [IAEA’s] professional accuracy and neutrality.”

In a meeting open to representatives of all IAEA member states on Wednesday, the 35-nation Board of Governors appointed Grossi as Director General, to serve for four years from December 3.

A diplomat with over 35 years of professional experience in non-proliferation and disarmament, Grossi is currently Argentina’s Ambassador to Austria and the country’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based International Organizations, according to the IAEA.

Grossi will be the IAEA’s sixth head since it was founded in 1957.

Yukiya Amano of Japan was the IAEA’s fifth Director General. He passed away on July 18.