Yukiya Amano, Japan's disarmament negotiator, faces immediate tests from a defiant Iran and provocative North Korea as he takes over the International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday from Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2009/nn20091202n2a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='184'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Full plate: Yukiya Amano –

, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks with Malaysia's Mohd Arshad bin Monzoor Hussein, chairman of the IAEA's Board of Governors, as departing IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei looks on at Vienna's International Center on Friday. AP PHOTO

Amano, 62, handled nuclear proliferation issues for the Foreign Ministry for three decades. He joined the IAEA's 35-member board of governors in September 2005 and was elected the agency's director general in July.

Amano assumes his post two days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Cabinet ordered Iran's nuclear agency to begin building 10 uranium enrichment sites within two months, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. Iran says the fuel is for civilian use while the U.S. claims it is for weapons development.