Yukiya Amano, who led the International Atomic Energy Agency for a decade and was extensively involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, died on Tuesday at the age of 72.
He was heavily involved in the years-long negotiations that led to the landmark Iran nuclear deal.
Under the agreement, reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015, Tehran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.
United States President Donald Trump, however, withdrew Washington from the landmark agreement last May and decided to re-impose what it described as the “toughest” sanctions ever against Tehran.
The news of Amano’s death comes at a time of increasing concerns and escalating tensions between US and Iran, with Washington and Tel Aviv having failed to create a crisis in Iran’s cooperation with the UN atomic agency which has repeatedly confirmed the peaceful nature of the country's nuclear program.
In this regard, some reports are now suggesting that Amano could have been "eliminated" for refusing to give in to pressures regarding Iran's nuclear program.
The late Japanese secretary-general of the IAEA was reportedly standing against the US and Israeli heavy pressures to open a false case against Iran on the nuclear issue.
While there is evidence that the Trump administration and the Israeli regime were constantly pressuring Amano to accuse Iran of violation of the 2015 nuclear deal, in all his reports, Amano had reaffirmed Iran's compliance with its nuclear-related commitments under the deal.
Keeping the news of Amano's death in the dark for a couple of days after his funeral by the US is another reason increasing the speculations over his assassination.
Besides, happy to remove a big hurdle to their ambitions, they have assigned Amano’s American deputy Mary Alice Hayward -- a close ally to the Trump administration -- to fill his position.
The international community should wait and see if the assumptions come true in the next IAEA reports on Iran’s nuclear program under the chairwomanship of Hayward.
Amano died on July 18 at the age of 72. Reports said his family had only informed the IAEA late on Sunday, “with the specific request not to disclose it until the family funeral had taken place on 22 July in a quiet atmosphere”.
Amano, who had wide experience in disarmament, nonproliferation diplomacy and nuclear energy issues, had been chief of the key U.N. agency that regulates nuclear use worldwide since 2009. He had wide experience in disarmament, non-proliferation diplomacy and nuclear energy.
MNA
Your Comment