IAEA on Arms Race
Posted: 24th April 2026
Exclusive interview: World faces new nuclear arms race. Conflict and
instability could prompt as many as 20 countries to pursue a bomb, says
global nuclear chief Rafael Grossi. The world is at risk of a fresh nuclear
arms race, the head of the United Nations’ atomic agency has warned.
Rafael Grossi said rising conflict and instability could lead to a “crack
in the system” of non-proliferation and a domino effect in which as many
as 20 states pursued a bomb. He told The Telegraph that renewed debate
about whether to acquire nuclear weapons in countries such as Poland, South
Korea and Japan could leave the world in a “very, very fragile
position”. The director general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), the world’s top nuclear weapons watchdog, also warned
that: Any nuclear deal between Donald Trump and Iran would be an
“illusion” without the inclusion of the UN agency. The “steady
growth” of China’s nuclear programme was a concern; North Korea’s
secretive nuclear weapons programme was “moving quite fast”. Some
nuclear material was still unaccounted for inside Syria following the fall
of the Assad regime. Mr Grossi’s warnings on the potential of a new
nuclear arms race are his most stark yet, and represent a growing concern
inside his agency and among top-level diplomats. He said he was worried
that countries that signed up to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) had
begun publicly discussing
breaching the pact. Leaders in Poland, Turkey and
Saudi Arabia, among others, have openly said they may pursue nuclear
weapons in the face of a destabilised world and the weakening of the
transatlantic alliance.
Telegraph 20th April 2026
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/20/world-faces-new-nuclear-arms-race-head-of-un-atomic-agency/