Yukiya Amano

International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Amano Passes Away at 72

The 72-year-old Japanese diplomat had held the position of IAEA director-general since 2009, steering the agency through a period of intense diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme while seeking in vain to return to North Korea.

Vienna: UN nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano has died, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday, the day he had been expected to announce he would step down early because of an illness that visibly weakened him over the past year.

The 72-year-old Japanese diplomat had held the position of IAEA director-general since 2009, taking over from Mohamed ElBaradei and steering the UN agency through a period of intense diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme while seeking in vain to return to North Korea.

“The Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency regrets to inform with deepest sadness of the passing away of Director General Yukiya Amano,” the IAEA said in a statement.

Amano had been preparing to leave his position in March, well before the end of his third four-year term, which ran until Nov. 30, 2021. Diplomats who follow the agency had said he planned to announce his decision on Monday.

The IAEA announced last September that Amano had undergone an unspecified medical procedure. The specific nature of his illness has remained a taboo subject within the agency, diplomats said, but with each public appearance, he had appeared increasingly frail.

Monday’s statement did not lay out a time frame for naming a successor, though the race to succeed him had been taking shape since last week when it became clear he would step down early.

Also read: Iran Implementing Nuclear-Related Commitments, says UN Atomic Watchdog

Argentina’s ambassador to the IAEA, Rafae Grossil, is running to succeed Amano, and diplomats say the agency’s chief coordinator Cornel Feruta of Romania, effectively Amano’s chief of staff, is likely to run. Others could also enter the fray.

While each candidate will have their own management style, it is widely expected that there will be no major change in the agency’s handling of its most high-profile issues, including Iran and a potential return to North Korea, which expelled IAEA inspectors in 2009.

The lack of information around Amano’s illness was also indicative of how his office dealt with sensitive information in general.

Diplomats from IAEA member states often expressed frustration in private at not obtaining more confidential information from Amano and his staff on issues such as its policing of Iran’s nuclear deal with major powers.

Amano, however, insisted that his agency was technical rather than political in nature, striking a contrast with his predecessor ElBaradei, who clashed with US officials over Iran and was often less guarded in discussing sensitive issues.

(Reuters)

Collapse of Iran Nuclear Deal Would Be ‘Great Loss’: UN Atomic Agency Chief

Trump has threatened to pull out of the deal unless Congress and European allies help ‘fix’ it with a follow-up agreement.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Yukiya Amano listens during an interview with Reuters at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria September 26, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

Vienna: Any collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers would be a “great loss“, the head of the UN atomic agency policing the accord said on Monday, alluding to a US threat to pull out of it.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of the deal unless Congress and European allies help “fix” it with a follow-up agreement.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, whose agency is monitoring Iranian compliance with curbs on its disputed nuclear activity imposed by the agreement, has long called the deal a “net gain” for nuclear verification, since it has provided the IAEA with more thorough oversight of Iran.

But in a speech on Monday to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors, he went further, evoking the possibility of the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), unravelling.

“The JCPOA represents a significant gain for verification,” Amano said, according to a text of his speech published by his agency. “If the JCPOA were to fail, it would be a great loss for nuclear verification and for multilateralism.”

Amano said Iran was implementing its commitments under the deal, which also lifted painful economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. He confirmed the findings of a quarterly, confidential IAEA report on Iran issued last month.

As mentioned in the report, the IAEA has requested clarification from Iran about its plans to develop nuclear marine propulsion, Amano said, suggesting the IAEA has still not heard back from the Islamic Republic.

“The agency has requested Iran to provide further clarifications regarding its plans relevant to the development of the nuclear fuel cycle related to naval nuclear propulsion,” Amano told the closed-door meeting of 35 member states.

Iran has long said publicly that it plans to develop nuclear propulsion for naval vessels but analysts and diplomats say remains a distant prospect.

It formally notified the IAEA of that intention in January in what was widely seen as a diplomatic warning shot aimed at the Trump administration, which reversed a policy of detente with Iran introduced by his predecessor Barack Obama. But the move prompted the IAEA to ask what exactlyIran‘s plans are.

France’s foreign minister visited Iran on Monday on a delicate mission to affirm European support for the nuclear deal that opened up Iran‘s economy, while echoing US concern about Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and role in Middle East conflicts.

(Reuters)

IAEA Set for Re-Election as Rival Steps Aside, Say Diplomats

Yukiya Amano, a 69-year-old career diplomat from Japan, has headed the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2009.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano smiles as he waits for a board of governors meeting to begin at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria June 6, 2016. Credit: Reuters

Vienna: The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief, Yukiya Amano, will secure a third term in office since his most likely challenger has chosen not to run against him, according to diplomats who follow the Vienna-based agency.

Amano, a 69-year-old career diplomat from Japan, has headed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2009. He said in September he would seek to stay on, emphasising the importance of continuity in policing Iran’s nuclear deal with major powers, among other issues.

“There will be no other candidate,” a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity, adding that Amano enjoys broad support. “It’s a done deal.”

Amano was expected to be challenged by Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi, a Vienna veteran who recently chaired the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an export control body. But with an end-of-year deadline for bids approaching, he had bowed out, diplomats said.

Argentina has decided to wait until the end of what would be Amano’s third term, in 2021, to put Grossi forward as a candidate, another diplomat familiar with the matter said.

Grossi was not immediately available for comment.

Amano was first elected by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors with the support of Western countries looking for a more pliant successor to Mohamed ElBaradei of Egypt, who frequently clashed with US officials over Iran.

ElBaradei and the IAEA were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, two years after the US-led invasion of Iraq. Officials from the George W. Bush administration, which was in power at the time, accused ElBaradei of being too lenient towards Iran.

Amano, a more low-key figure known for his guarded statements, regularly emphasises that the IAEA’s work is technical, striking a deliberate contrast with ElBaradei’s more political style.

Diplomats say he has established himself as a competent leader through episodes like the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan – a tough test for the IAEA, which is tasked both with nuclear safety and with promoting nuclear energy.

He has also overseen inspections of Iran’s nuclear programme, a role that continues under the landmark deal with major powers reached last year, which restricts Iran’s atomic activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against it.

With US president-elect Donald Trump – a vocal critic of the deal – due to take office next month and his future policy towards Iran uncertain, many see the need for a safe pair of hands.

“Amano does not generate any enthusiasm but is seen as a figure that does not rock the boat,” said one diplomat who is critical of him.

Amano’s second four-year term runs until November. The Board of Governors is due to meet during the year to elect the next director general.

(Reuters)