ISTANBUL

Argentina has officially thrown its weight behind Rafael Grossi’s bid to become the next UN secretary-general, positioning the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief at the center of a high-stakes global contest, according to local media.

Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno announced on Wednesday the endorsement in a post on the US social media company X.

He called it “an honour and a privilege” to put forward Grossi, whom he praised for “the extraordinary work he has been carrying out as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for six years now.”

Quirno said Grossi’s record shows “his great capacity for leadership in the face of serious situations that affect international peace and security.”

Grossi, a veteran non-proliferation diplomat who has led the IAEA since 2016, is widely respected for his crisis-management role in nuclear flashpoints from Iran to Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, according to a Buenos Aires Times report.

His technical credibility has already won backing in several European capitals as the UN enters what diplomats describe as a pivotal leadership transition, the daily added.

Secretary race

The race to replace Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term ends in 2027, opened this week as the UN General Assembly and Security Council invited member states to nominate candidates.

Regional rotation and gender representation are expected to weigh heavily, with Latin America seen as next in line and pressure mounting for the organization’s first-ever female chief, the daily also noted.

Another Argentine contender, Virginia Gamba, has launched an independent campaign supported by multiple countries.

Gamba, a former UN special representative on violence against children in armed conflict and a joint recipient of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize, argues her decades of field experience and strategic background are essential “in the largest global arms race since the Cold War.”

The region’s field is expanding, with Chile’s former president Michelle Bachelet, Mexico’s Alicia Barcena, and Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Christiana Figueres also considered potential challengers in a race now shifting into full diplomatic gear.