Vatican City: In a stark warning after meeting Pope Leo XIV, Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), urged the international community to confront what he called the most pressing danger of our time: the accelerating trend toward nuclear rearmament and proliferation.
Following a private audience with the Pope on Friday, Grossi told Vatican News that the IAEA’s task is to translate lofty appeals for peace into concrete safeguards to prevent catastrophe. “Without an unarmed and disarming peace, we are not going to see the next day,” he said, echoing the Pope’s calls for a global rejection of weapons of mass destruction.
Grossi emphasized the agency’s mission of ensuring that nuclear energy is used exclusively for peaceful purposes while guarding against its weaponization. From Iran to the Middle East, and from East Asia to the war zones of Ukraine, the IAEA chief said the agency is engaged “everywhere where nuclear activity has led” to potential risks.
Particularly alarming, he noted, is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine located on the front line of the war. Grossi, who has personally visited the facility multiple times, described it as under “constant threat,” subjected to drone attacks, shelling, and repeated blackouts that have compromised critical safety systems. “Contrary to what many believe, military activity around the plant is increasing, not decreasing,” he warned. “This geometrically raises the risk of an accident.”
Grossi also drew attention to the broader global picture, where nuclear-armed states are modernizing their arsenals, and non-nuclear nations are beginning to question security assurances and openly debate developing their own weapons. “This is what we need to stop,” he stressed. “Non-proliferation may sound abstract, but it is the most crucial challenge of our time. The idea that more nuclear weapons equal more security is an illusion.”
The IAEA chief said he shared with Pope Leo XIV his concern that the world is entering a dangerous new phase of nuclear competition, one that risks undoing decades of progress.
Reflecting on past arms control treaties like START, Grossi acknowledged that while they did not achieve disarmament, they significantly slowed the expansion of nuclear arsenals. That process, he said, has now “stopped and reversed.”
Yet, Grossi remained cautiously optimistic. He cited recent talks between the United States and Russia in Alaska, where nuclear issues were once again raised at the diplomatic level. “It’s going to be complicated, but even modest steps can help reverse the perception that we are sliding irreversibly toward more nuclear weapons, more proliferation, and perhaps their actual use.”
Grossi underscored that progress in arms control is closely linked to peace efforts in conflict zones, particularly in Ukraine. He called for simultaneous pursuit of diplomacy and technical safeguards to prevent the nightmare scenario of nuclear escalation.
“The Pope speaks of peace in moral and spiritual terms,” Grossi reflected, “and our task is to embody that vision in practical measures that reduce risks. The stakes are existential. If we fail, we may not have the chance to correct the course.”