The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Director General Mohamed ElBaradei received the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony here on Saturday for their efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons.
Just over 60 years after the world's first atomic attack, ElBaradei and the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, represented by the chairman of its board of governors, Yukiya Amano, were honoured for "their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes".
They received the prestigious prize, consisting of a Nobel diploma, a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (1.3 million dollars) to be split between them, from chairman of the Nobel Committee Ole Mjoes at a formal ceremony in Oslo's City Hall.
The UN agency and ElBaradei received their distinction 60 years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan on August 6 and 9, 1945.
The agency and its chief have most recently been instrumental in thorny nuclear negotiations with Iran, threatening to take the country before the UN Security Council for violating nuclear non-proliferation rules.