Romanian diplomat Feruta appointed as interim chief of UN nuclear watchdog IAEA

Romanian diplomat Cornel Feruta will act as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) until member states agree on a permanent successor to deceased Director General Yukiya Amano, the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.

The IAEA announced on Monday that Amano had died, leaving the agency with a leadership vacuum at a time of rising tensions between Iran and the West, following Washington’s decision last year to quit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The director general is appointed for four years by the agency’s 35-nation board of governors. The candidate must be approved by the general conference. Its regular annual meeting will be held on September 16-20.

Feruta, the agency’s chief coordinator who was effectively Amano’s chief of staff, has been mentioned by diplomats as a likely candidate for the top job, Reuters said. He has supported the Iran deal in the past, saying last year that the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) had significantly improved access to Iran.