Veteran Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi was sworn in on Monday as the new director general of the UN’s nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with the growing crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme at the top of his in-tray.

Who is Rafael Grossi? -

Grossi had been serving as Argentina’s ambassador to the IAEA and is the agency’s first leader from Latin America.

He previously held high-level posts at the agency between 2010 and 2013, bringing him into contact with Iranian officials at a time when international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear activities were intensifying. According to the former French ambassador to Iran Francois Nicoullaud, Grossi will able to draw on “solid experience in proliferation matters”.

“He is someone of a very high calibre who comes from an important country in the nuclear field,” says Nicoullaud.

A current Vienna-based diplomat said Grossi was expected to bring “a lot of energy and innovation” to the post, with a particular focus on pushing gender parity within the agency and promoting the role of nuclear energy in fighting climate change.