Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano yesterday was officially selected as the next head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 13).
(Sep. 15) -
Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano addresses the International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference yesterday. Amano was formally appointed to succeed IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who is scheduled to step down in November (Samuel Kubani/Getty Images).
The full membership of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, meeting this week in Vienna, Austria, confirmed the July decision by the agency's governing board to have Amano replace departing Director General Mohamed ElBaradei.
Amano, who has served as his nation's envoy to the nuclear agency, is scheduled to take office on Dec. 1. He would serve at least one four-year term.
"I humbly accept the appointment to this prominent post and express my sincere gratitude to the member states for their support and trust," Amano told the IAEA General Conference.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to express my profound respect to Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei for his outstanding contribution to the agency during his 12-year tenure," he added. "His tireless efforts and selfless dedication towards world peace and prosperity through the activities of the IAEA will undoubtedly be remembered."
It took two elections for Amano to take the leadership spot. In March, neither he nor South African envoy Abdul Minty could garner the necessary support from two-thirds of the IAEA board. Amano was seen as the candidate of Western nations, while Minty found backing from developing states.
Several other candidates joined the campaign ahead of the July 2 election. Ultimately, though, it came down again to Amano and Minty, and the Japanese diplomat finally came out on top (Simon Morgan, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 14).
The agency's role on the international stage is to promote the safe and peaceful use of atomic energy while preventing nuclear proliferation. It is faced with a number of challenges today, including suspicions regarding the nuclear programs of nations including Iran and Syria (see GSN, Aug. 28 and Sept. 8).
The U.N. organization must focus on both roles in order to deal with growing threats of nuclear proliferation and terrorism, climate change and other challenges, Amano said.
"Being merely a nuclear watchdog does not suffice,"Amano said. "The IAEA needs to pursue its dual objective in a balanced manner in addressing the global issues" (International Atomic Energy Agency release, Sept. 14).
ElBaradei said he hoped his successor would have "every success," AFP reported. He then addressed one of the central issues of his tenure as director general -- Iran.
"A number of questions and allegations that cast doubt on the peaceful nature of (Iran's civilian nuclear) program are still outstanding," ElBaradei told the conference.
"Addressing the concerns of the international community about Iran's future intentions is primarily a matter of confidence-building, which can only be achieved through dialogue. I therefore welcome the offer of the U.S. to initiate a dialogue with Iran, without preconditions and on the basis of mutual respect," he added. "It is my hope that such a dialogue will begin as soon as possible" (see related GSN story, today; Morgan, Agence France-Presse).
ElBaradei questioned the value of additional sanctions that might be imposed on Iran should the diplomatic effort fail to bear fruit, Reuters reported. The U.N. Security Council has already imposed three rounds of sanctions on Tehran related to its nuclear activities.
"We must keep open the channels of communication with those with whom we have issues that need to be resolved rather than seeking to isolate them," said ElBaradei, who has faced criticism from Israel and other nations that feel he has not sufficiently cracked down on Iran. Most recently, he has been accused of withholding information on Iranian nuclear activities, a claim ElBaradei has denied.
The U.N. Security Council "needs to develop a comprehensive compliance mechanism that does not rely only on sanctions, which too often hurt the vulnerable and the innocent," ElBaradei said.
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, speaking to the General Conference, offered a different take on the question of sanctions.
"Failure to impose meaningful consequences puts at risk everything we have achieved (with nonproliferation rules). We cannot let this happen," he said (Mark Heinrich, Reuters, Sept. 14).
An enhanced monitoring regime is necessary to deter further nuclear proliferation, Chu said.
"One step we can all take is to grant the IAEA the authority to carry out its safeguards mission effectively. This means bringing into force comprehensive safeguards agreements and Additional Protocols to make them the accepted verification standard for the world," he said. Earlier this year we brought into force our own Additional Protocol, and we encourage others to do the same."
The Additional Protocol allows the U.N. nuclear watchdog to conduct more intrusive inspections of a member state's nuclear operations (see GSN, Jan. 5).
Chu also discussed the Obama administration's nonproliferation efforts, including seeking a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia and ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and joined Amano in warning of the threat of nuclear terrorism.
"Because we know that terrorists such as al-Qaeda would not hesitate to use a nuclear weapon, our essential strategy must be to prevent them from acquiring or producing one. As long as there is unsecured nuclear material around the world, all of our nations are at risk," he said.
President [Barack] Obama has set an ambitious but achievable goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years. The United States is accelerating its efforts, but we cannot achieve that goal on our own," Chu added. "We are working with Russia and other countries to ensure that all fissile material -- whether from civil or military programs -- is accounted for and secured against diversion or terrorist threats" (U.S. Energy Department release, Sept. 14).