WASHINGTON, February 18. /TASS/. Nuclear proliferation is fraught with the weapons use in regional and other conflicts, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who is seeking the post of UN secretary general, said in an interview with Foreign Policy magazine.
He said several non-nuclear states have the technical capabilities to obtain nuclear weapons.
"We see that now in public discourse—countries that up until now were in good standing with the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - TASS) are saying they might need to revisit their position vis-à-vis the possession of nuclear weapons," Grossi added, without specifying the states.
"This is a very disturbing trend. But with the current degree of fragmentation, and with the rise of geopolitical confrontation, to all of a sudden be confronted with a world where we will have 20 countries with weapons, we are sure to see nuclear use, even in regional or subregional conflicts, with the potential of escalation."