Rafael Mariano Grossi (born 29 January[citation needed] 1961) is an Argentine diplomat. He has been serving as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since December 3,2019. He was formerly the Argentine Ambassador to Austria,concurrent with Slovenia,Slovakia and International Organisations based in Vienna (2013–2019).[2]
Grossi began working in nuclear policy during a collaboration between the Argentine foreign service and INVAP.[4] Between 1997 and 2000 he was the President of the United Nations Group of Government Experts on the International Weapons Registry,and later became adviser to the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations on disarmament.[3]
During his work for the Argentine foreign service,he was the General Director of Political Coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship,Ambassador to Belgium and the Argentine Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva.[3] Between 2010 and 2013 he served as Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency,and that last year,President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner assigned him as Ambassador to Austria and International Organisations based in Vienna,concurrent also in Slovakia and Slovenia.[3][6]
In September 2015,the Argentine government announced the nomination of Grossi as a candidate for Director General of the IAEA,with support from other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2016,however,the government of Mauricio Macri withdrew its support to promote Susana Malcorra's candidacy as UN Secretary General.[7] In 2016,he was the President of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.[8]
In November 2017,after the disappearance of ARA San Juan,Grossi had the idea of reviewing the records of the hydro-acoustic stations of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) as an alternative to obtain clues about what happened with the submarine. He contacted Lassina Zerbo,the Executive Secretary of the CTBTO,and convinced him of doing such reviews. His efforts paid off:the agency subsequently reported on "an underwater impulse event" occurred near the last known position of the submarine by the listening posts on Ascension Island and Crozet Islands at 46°07′S59°41′W / 46.12°S 59.69°W / -46.12; -59.69.[10][11] The remains of the ill-fated ship were found a year later, about twenty kilometers from the estimated position based on the cited records.
Director General of IAEA
On August 2, 2019, Grossi was presented as the Argentine candidate to become the Director General of IAEA.[12] On 28 October, 2019, the IAEA Board of Governors held its first vote to elect the new Director General, but none of the candidates secure the two-thirds majority in the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors needed to be elected. The next day, 29 October, the second voting round was held, and Grossi won 24 of the 23 needed votes required for Director General Appointment, and became the first Latin American to head the organisation.[13][14] He assumed office on 3 December 2019.[2] In August 2022, Grossi led a team of IAEA inspectors to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine.[15][16] Since 2022, Grossi had been in the spotlight to obtain information on nuclear materials from Iran to re-negotiate the JCPOA. In September 2022, he continued to express concerns about traces of uranium found at three Iranian nuclear sites. Grossi told a press conference in Vienna that he is "under political pressure". Iran has long denied that it seeks nuclear weapons for defense purposes.[17]
Grossi with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in October 2021
Penúltima alianza: el proceso de expansión de la OTAN y el nuevo mapa de la seguridad internacional. Buenos Aires: Grupo Editor Latinoamericano (1999).
Kosovo, los límites del intervencionismo humanitario. Buenos Aires: Editorial Nuevohacer (2000).
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