IAEA Chief Grossi Voices Interest in UN Leadership

PeopleDiplomats ♦ Published: June 11, 2025; 13:28 ♦ (Vindobona)

António Guterres' term of office expires at the end of 2026. The next Secretary-General should come from Latin America, through a geographical rotation system. A well-known UN official in Vienna, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, as chance would have it, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has now voiced interest in seeking to become UN Secretary-General when the position becomes vacant in 2027.

United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Mariano Grossi voiced his interest in seeking to become UN secretary-general when the position comes open in 2027. / Picture: © IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency / Dean Calma / Flickr Attribution (CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Rafael Grossi, the current Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an Argentine diplomat, has expressed great interest in this position. He will be available in 2027. Grossi's contract as IAEA Director General was extended in 2023 until December 2027.

Rafael Grossi, 64, has had a long career in Argentine diplomacy and at the United Nations. He became…