The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found traces of uranium in Syria during an investigation into a building that Israel destroyed in 2007. The agency has long believed it could have been an undeclared nuclear facility.
According to Reuters, this is stated in a report for UN member states.
The then Syrian government, led by Bashar al-Assad, claimed that the Deir ez-Zor facility was a conventional military base. However, back in 2011, the IAEA concluded that the building was “very likely” to be a secret reactor that had not been officially registered. Since then, the agency has been trying to confirm this assumption.
In 2024, IAEA resumed its investigation and was able to take soil samples from three sites that were "likely linked" to Deir ez-Zor.
"A significant amount of natural uranium particles were found at one of these locations. Analysis showed that they are of anthropogenic origin, that is, they appeared as a result of chemical processing," the report says.
At the same time, IAEA clarifies in the document that “natural” means unenriched. The agency has not yet concluded what exactly this means.
The current Syrian government has said it has no explanation for the origin of the uranium particles. At the same time, the government in June allowed IAEA to visit the site again to take new samples.
In June, the IAEA Director Rafael Grossi met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The report says that Syria agreed to cooperate with the agency, acting with maximum transparency, to clarify questions about the countryʼs past nuclear activities.
At the meeting, Grossi asked that Syria allow him to visit Deir ez-Zor again within a few months to conduct additional inspections, obtain documents, and speak with people involved in the nuclear program.
Reuters writes that IAEA is planning a trip to Deir ez-Zor and is examining samples from other locations.
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