This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/world/asia/yukiya-amano-dead.html

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Yukiya Amano, Head of the I.A.E.A. Nuclear Watchdog Group, Dies at 72 Yukiya Amano, Head of the I.A.E.A. Nuclear Watchdog Group, Dies at 72
(32 minutes later)
Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations watchdog group that is charged with monitoring nuclear development around the world, has died, the organization said in a statement on Monday. He was 72. Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations group that is charged with monitoring nuclear development around the world, has died, the organization said in a statement on Monday. He was 72.
The organization provided few details but said the agency’s flags would be lowered to half-mast to honor Mr. Amano, who led the group for nearly a decade. The organization provided few details but said the agency’s flags would be lowered to half-staff to honor Mr. Amano, who led the group for nearly a decade and was appointed in 2017 to a third four-year term.
The agency, more commonly known by its initials, I.A.E.A. is responsible for, among other things, monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities under an agreement reached in 2015. The United States abandoned the accord last year and Iran has slowly been falling out of compliance with it in recent weeks. Mr. Amano led the agency, commonly known by its initials, I.A.E.A., during a critical period in which it was responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities under an agreement reached in 2015. The United States abandoned the accord last year, and Iran has slowly been falling out of compliance with it in recent weeks.
The agency’s statement appeared to confirm reports from earlier this month that Mr. Amano would be stepping down from his position because of an unspecified illness, releasing a message that Mr. Amano had intended to share in his letter to the organization’s governing board. The agency’s statement appeared to confirm reports from earlier this month that Mr. Amano would be stepping down from his position because of an unspecified illness. It included a message that Mr. Amano had intended to share in his letter to the organization’s governing board.
“During the past decade, the Agency delivered concrete results to achieve the objective of ‘Atoms for Peace and Development,’ thanks to the support of Member States and the dedication of Agency staff,” he wrote. “I am very proud of our achievements, and grateful to Member States and Agency staff.” “During the past decade, the agency delivered concrete results to achieve the objective of ‘atoms for peace and development,’ thanks to the support of member states and the dedication of agency staff,” he wrote. “I am very proud of our achievements, and grateful to member states and agency staff.”
Mr. Amano had been appointed in 2017 to a third four-year term in charge of the agency. Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said on Twitter on Monday that he had worked closely with Mr. Amano, who oversaw the monitoring of Iranian nuclear energy development after the 2015 nuclear deal was signed.
“I commend his skillful & professional performance,” as the head of the agency, Mr. Aragchi wrote on Twitter.
Mr. Amano graduated from the Tokyo University Faculty of Law in 1972. He was the first Japanese person to lead the I.A.E.A., ascending to that position after serving in the Japanese Foreign Ministry for more than three decades in a variety of roles.
While serving as the head of the nuclear agency, Mr. Amano also oversaw safety efforts after the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011 in his home country after an earthquake and a tsunami battered the facility causing a meltdown.
Four years after the episode, Mr. Amano delivered a statement to the agency’s governing board and said he believed the Fukushima accident had brought nuclear safety into sharper focus.
“There can be no grounds for complacency about nuclear safety in any country,” he told the board at the time. “Continuous questioning and openness to learning from experience are key to a safety culture and are essential for everyone involved in nuclear power. Safety must always come first.”
Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s top foreign policy official, wrote on Twitter that she was “saddened by the loss” of Mr. Amano.
“A man of extraordinary dedication & professionalism, always at the service of the global community in the most impartial way,” she wrote. “I’ll never forget the work done together. It has been for me a great pleasure & privilege working with him.”