Argentina's IAEA Candidate Says Received Many Signals Of Support, Very Optimistic

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2019) Rafael Grossi, Argentina's candidate to lead the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told Sputnik in an interview he had already received many signals of support and was optimistic about his chances.

The UN nuclear watchdog's previous director general, Yukiya Amano, passed away in July.

"In terms of support, perhaps it would not be prudent of me to say 'I have this, I have that.' What I can tell you, is that I have many expressions of support, including from many important countries. So we are extremely optimistic, one needs to work day-to-day without arrogance, without pretending to be in a dominant position, but we are very encouraged, I would say, by the way in which the message is being received and our candidacy is being assessed by many countries," Grossi said.

"We were very proud to learn that all Latin American member states of the IAEA board of Governors generously and enthusiastically showed their support for our candidature. Our main partner in trade, politics and nuclear energy, Brazil, saw our candidature practically as a Brazilian candidature, which is filling us with pride," Grossi said.