IAEA Chief Gets Third Term

April 2017 

The 35-nation Board of Governors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reappointed Yukiya Amano to serve a third term as director-general of the UN nuclear watchdog agency. Amano, who was unchallenged for the post, was approved by consensus for another four-year term, and the board’s action is expected to be formally confirmed at a meeting of the agency’s 168 member-states in September. A former Japanese diplomat, Amano, 69, has headed the IAEA since December 2009, when he succeeded the more controversial Mohamed ElBaradei. Following the board’s action on March 8, Amano said the agency will build on its range of technical responsibilities involving the peaceful use of nuclear technology and “will continue to carefully monitor and verify Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments.”