The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, has had his impartiality and reputation questioned in recent months as his agency’s findings on Iran’s nuclear program have spurred intense bellicosity from the U.S. and Israel. Former IAEA officials say Amano is crowding out dissent and surrounding himself with other pro-Western officials at the IAEA. He has dissolved entire offices of the agency in order to avoid scrutiny and his highly politicized election in 2009, along with leaked U.S. diplomatic cables which cast aspersions on his objectivity, further paint him as biased.
The IAEA’s recent reports on Iran’s nuclear program, former officials claim, over-emphasize pieces of evidence that make it seem like Iran is developing weapons, while discarding evidence that pokes holes in that implication. According to many officials in the know, that is due to Amano’s leadership.
