Grossis dream for UN leadership
Grossi's dream for UN leadership
TEHRAN – When thinking about Iran’s nuclear program and all the drama surrounding it, it’s easy to also think of a list of names belonging to those who wouldn't exactly mind if things went south.
Israel, for instance, is at the top of this list. Amidst all the usual suspects, however, there is a figure often overlooked by most observers: the very head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi.
Iranian officials have long accused the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of making unprofessional and political statements. Last year, Iran's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, publicly urged the UN official to snap out of it, reminding him that his role was technical, not political.
New information obtained by the Tehran Times shows Grossi’s shenanigans have not been due to his interest in politics or potential hostilities towards Iran; rather, he is trying to gain something by rebuking Tehran, a reward mainly promised to him by the European Troika.
Grossi’s past, hopes for the future
The 64-year-old owns a long career that spans both Argentinian diplomacy and the United Nations. At some point within Argentina's foreign ministry, Grossi managed to rise to the position of Deputy Foreign Minister. He then became involved with the United Nations for a few years before marking his first association with the IAEA, becoming his country’s ambassador to the organization in 2013.
In December 2019, a year after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) and left it in shambles, Grossi assumed the role of the IAEA’s Director General. Throughout his latest tenure, he has been fantasizing about bigger leaps and more prominent roles. The Tehran Times has learned that one of Grossi’s dream positions is the Secretary-Generalship of the United Nations, which has been promised to him by Germany, the UK, and France.
Ahead of Iran and the United States' second round of indirect nuclear talks, Grossi spoke to France’s Le Monde, telling the publication that Tehran is "not far" from having nuclear weapons. This comes after he said last month that the country is currently capable of developing 6 to 7 nuclear bombs. None of these assertions have been verified by Grossi’s own past reports, nor the IAEA inspectors who have been vigorously monitoring Iran’s nuclear sites since 2015.
It remains unclear how Grossi's recent statements will impact the progress of ongoing Iran-US talks. Sources familiar with the matter have told the Tehran Times that the IAEA chief's primary concern lies elsewhere. Allegedly, he has been tasked with further demonizing Iran and its nuclear program to justify a critical report on the country's nuclear activities later this year. Such a report would then provide the justification for European nations to threaten the activation of the "snapback" mechanism, which would reinstate pre-JCPOA UN sanctions against Iran. Currently, only the E3 (France, Germany, and the UK) possesses the political will and practical means to trigger this snapback.
Unhappy with their exclusion from the indirect nuclear talks that began on April 12th, the E3 aims to leverage the threat of snapback sanctions to pressure both Iran and the U.S. to include them in the negotiations, the Tehran Times has learned. London, Berlin, and Paris have offered Grossi their support in his ambition to become the next UN Secretary-General in exchange for his assistance in achieving this objective.
Iran has always maintained close ties and cooperation with the IAEA, according to a high-ranking source speaking to the Tehran Times. But Grossi’s dishonest conduct risks spoiling everything the two sides have worked for, the source said.
source: tehrantimes.com