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US meddling in favor of Argentinian candidate for IAEA chief post: Reporter

Thursday, 10 October 2019 9:22 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 10 October 2019 10:07 AM ]

Rafael Grossi, Argentina's candidacy for the post of director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), attends a news conference in Vienna, Austria, September 16, 2019. (Photo by AP)

A Venezuelan reporter has revealed the US has been meddling in favor of Argentina’s contender to become the next chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog.

On Thursday, Endo Andri, Venezuelan national radio correspondent, raised concerns that Argentina’s ambassador to the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, who is competing with three other candidates to take over the IAEA, may have direct links to the US State Department.

The IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors expects to appoint its new leader this month after the death of its previous director general, Yukiya Amano, in July. The person appointed will assume office by January 1, 2020.

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Andri said that an alliance had already been formed in support of Grossi before the IAEA’s vote.

He also accused Argentina's IAEA hopeful of transmitting secret information in telephone conversations with diplomatic representatives of certain member states of the nuclear watchdog.

Those who received the information are currently supporting Grossi's candidacy, he added.

The Venezuelan reporter further noted that Grossi has been approved by Argentinian President, Mauricio Macri, who enjoys close ties with the Israeli regime.

In September, US Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, stressed that Grossi “sounds like a perfect candidate" to run the IAEA.

"Sounds like someone who understands all the different complexities of this world we live in," he pointed out.

Diplomats say Grossi’s main rival is Cornel Feruta of Romania, who has taken over as interim IAEA chief.

The new IAEA director general is facing challenges such as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, whose fate remains in doubt after the unilateral US withdrawal from the multilateral accord and Europe's failure to fulfill its end of the bargain.

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