Grossi: I announce my candidacy for UN secretary-general

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, officially declared that he intends to stand as a candidate for UN Secretary-General.

According to the Buenos Aires Times, the 64-year-old Grossi stated at a press conference in Washington: “I will be a candidate for Secretary-General of the United Nations.”

This announcement came after weeks of speculation that Grossi was preparing to enter the race. Grossi had already expressed interest in the idea during a trip to Buenos Aires last April, though at the time he said he had not yet made a final decision.

If successful, Grossi would become the second Secretary-General of the UN from Latin America, following Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.

The current Secretary-General, António Guterres of Portugal, will complete his term in January 2027. Grossi stated that the process of formalizing his candidacy “will move forward in the coming weeks.”

Whoever is elected Secretary-General will serve a five-year term, with the possibility of re-election for another five years. By long-standing but unwritten convention, the post rotates informally among different regions of the world, and in 2027 the expectation is that the candidate will come from Latin America. The last two Secretaries-General have been Europeans. Given the influence of the United States within the UN, Washington is not expected to put forward a candidate.

Grossi added that he had discussed his candidacy with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a recent meeting.