ElBaradei began to serve as Director General of the IAEA, which is based in Vienna, on 1 December 1997, succeeding Hans Blix of Sweden. The agency gradually came to take an active role in attempts to prevent nuclear proliferation, with its focus first centred on Iraq and Sudan, in which cases the agency claimed success, and later also on North Korea and Iran. ElBaradei was re-elected for two more four-year terms in 2001 and, despite opposition from the United States, to a third term in 2005.
ElBaradei began to serve as Director General of the IAEA, which is based in Vienna, on 1 December 1997, succeeding Hans Blix of Sweden. The agency gradually came to take an active role in attempts to prevent nuclear proliferation, with its focus first centred on Iraq and Sudan, in which cases the agency claimed success, and later also on North Korea and Iran. ElBaradei was re-elected for two more four-year terms in 2001 and, despite opposition from the United States, to a third term in 2005.