Iran Press/ Europe: “I don’t think in the 1990s you would hear important countries say, ‘well, why don’t we have nuclear weapons too?’” Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the Financial Times.
“These countries are having a public discussion about it, which was not the case before. They are saying it publicly. They are saying it to the press. Heads of state have referred to the possibility of rethinking this whole thing.”
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated the power of having nuclear weapons, but Grossi said there are several other factors contributing to the renewed interest in developing atomic weapons among some countries.
“There are all these tensions, this possibility of alliances being weakened and countries having to fend for themselves. This is where the nuclear weapon factor, and attraction, comes back in a very unexpected way,” he said, while declining to name any specific countries. 204
