Yukiya Amano, Japanese Diplomat Who Led Iran Probe, Dies at 72

By Jonathan Tirone

Yukiya Amano, the Japanese diplomat who led the International Atomic Energy Agency for a decade, handling the investigation of Iran and the aftermath of the Fukushima meltdowns, has died at the age of 72.

The IAEA confirmed his death in a written statement without elaborating on the cause or location. Amano’s poor health had begun to interfere with his day-to-day duties over the last year and he had planned to resign from the agency.

The IAEA published a message Amano had intended to include in a letter to the Board of Governors announcing his decision to step down: “During the past decade, the Agency delivered concrete results to achieve the objective of ’Atoms for Peace and Development’. I am very proud of our achievements, and grateful to member states and agency staff.”

Amano played an instrumental role in several of the most consequential international developments over the last decade. He led the IAEA’s investigation into Iran’s nuclear history after he assumed office in 2009. After the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns two years later, Amano’s agency was charged with assessing the accident’s international impact and drafting new safety standards.

“So saddened by the loss,” wrote European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini wrote via Twitter. He was “a man of extraordinary dedication and professionalism, always at the service of the global community in the most impartial way.”

Amano oversaw the probes that detailed the military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear work before issuing the report that ended the IAEA’s active investigation and allowed the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers to come into force. That accord between Iran and world powers gave IAEA inspectors the most robust verification system in existence anywhere in the world, he often repeated.

His death will thrust the agency into an unexpected leadership battle as nuclear tensions with Iran increase. His deputies will assume some duties while the IAEA board organizes elections. The IAEA’s 35-member board is scheduled to convene Sept. 9 in the Austrian capital.

Photo: IAEA