Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, has died, the agency said on Monday.

“The Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency regrets to inform you, deeply saddened, about the death of General Director Yukiya Amano,” the statement said.

The release does not provide details on the circumstances of death. Diplomatic sources quoted last Wednesday by Reuters and Kyodo have indicated that Amano intended to resign before the end of his current term because of health problems.

The Romanian diplomat Cornel Feruţă is one of the two candidates nominated to take over the position of general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Currently head-coordinator of the IAEA, a position he is in charge since 2013, Cornel Feruţă is responsible for coordinating the Agency’s internal and external activities.

Amano, a 72-year-old Japanese diplomat, was named in 2017 for a third consecutive four-year tenure at the head of the IAEA, a mandate that would normally end on November 30, 2021.

The departure raises questions about the direction the agency will later enlist, although few expect changes in its approach to Iran or other sensitive issues, Reuters comments. The IAEA also deals with the monitoring of restrictions imposed on Iran’s nuclear activities under the 2015 agreement with the major powers, of which the US withdrew last year.

Yukiya Amano’s health continued to deteriorate visibly after the agency announced in September last year that he had undergone an unspecified medical procedure that took place outside of Austria, the country where the IAEA headquarters are located.

The agency explained on Wednesday, at Reuters’ request, that “the general director is in contact with the Board of Governors about his plans for the future and will make a formal announcement to the Council at the right time.