IAEA Verifies Tons of Nuclear Material at Secret Syrian Sites

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified several tons of natural uranium metal and graphite at previously undeclared nuclear sites in Syria this week. Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi led inspection teams to a location outside Damascus and the Al-Kibar reactor site in Deir ez-Zor, the latter of which was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in 2007. The inspections followed a July 17 letter from the Syrian government disclosing the materials as legacy remnants of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged cooperation with the IAEA to secure Western support and resolve questions regarding Syria's past nuclear weapons program. While the IAEA had previously considered removing the materials from the country, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani announced that the uranium will remain in Syrian national custody. The Syrian government agreed to place the material under international safeguards, though Shaibani asserted the state's sovereign responsibility and right to use the materials for peaceful civilian purposes.

Grossi noted that the materials could be put to "bad use" but praised the current administration for reporting the site. The diplomatic breakthrough was supported by the United States and Israeli intelligence. Despite the nuclear cooperation, regional tensions persisted as Israel launched a separate strike on a rebuilt Syrian air base to prevent Turkey from establishing a military presence there, an action U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack called an "unnecessary escalation."