Syria opens Assad-era nuclear programme to UN probe

What the report says

Syria has opened the door for a United Nations nuclear watchdog investigation into parts of the former Assad-era nuclear programme, according to Al Jazeera’s report based on AFP and Reuters. The move follows the ouster of Bashir al-Assad in late 2024, after which Syria’s interim authorities said they would work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on unresolved nuclear legacy issues.

Al Jazeera reported that IAEA inspectors visited two locations in Syria, including a site in Deir Az Zor and another location linked to nuclear material that Syria recently disclosed. In Damascus, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said the agency had found several tonnes of nuclear material at an undisclosed site and that the material could be placed under international safeguards. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the government had informed the agency on July 17 about the presence of nuclear materials at a site not previously declared.

According to the report, Syrian officials said the material was not dangerous and would remain in Syrian custody under agreed safeguards. The disclosure is significant because it gives the IAEA access to areas tied to suspected past nuclear activity, including sites associated with the former government. Cautious background: Syria has long faced questions over a suspected reactor destroyed by Israel in 2007, but the current report focuses on the post-Assad investigation and the newly disclosed material.