Argentina's Rafael Grossi was elected on Tuesday to head the UN's nuclear watchdog, which is tasked in particular with monitoring the implementation of the increasingly shaky Iran nuclear deal.

Grossi beat Romanian diplomat Cornel Feruta to become director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following the death of the former head Yukiya Amano of Japan in July. The election of Grossi, Argentina's ambassador to the IAEA, comes at a critical time for the Vienna-based agency as Iran is decreasing its commitments under the 2015 landmark deal.

US President Donald Trump last year withdrew from the agreement and proceeded to re-introduce sanctions, leaving Iran to press the remaining signatories to hold up economic benefits in return for its nuclear programme cutbacks.

Grossi received 24 votes to Feruta's 10 from the IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors in the third official round of voting, reaching the two-thirds majority needed to become the new director general. Grossi, who becomes the first IAEA head from Latin America and is believed to have had the backing of the US, said he was "delighted".

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019