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IAEA confirms Syria’s undeclared nuclear facilities under Assad
The UN nuclear watchdog’s August site verification found a reactor under construction in Deir el-Zour and related fuel fabrication and storage sites, amid prior reporting gaps under the NPT Safeguards Agreement.
Associated Press reports that UN nuclear watchdog inspectors visited several sites in Syria in August as part of verification work, with details contained in a confidential report shared with member states and seen by the outlet.
Based on that visit, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it is able to establish that former Syrian authorities failed to report nuclear material, facilities, and activities as required under the NPT Safeguards Agreement, according to Associated Press.
The assessment included a nuclear reactor under construction in Deir el-Zour, a fuel fabrication plant, and another site used for fuel storage during the rule of former president Bashar al-Assad.
Under Assad, Syria was believed to have run an extensive undeclared nuclear program that included a reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir el-Zour province, a facility that became public after Israel’s 2007 air strikes reportedly destroyed it; the report also says Syria later leveled the site, while IAEA sampling in 2024 found uranium particles.