IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says agency found ‘tonnes of nuclear material’ in Syria
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says agency found ‘tonnes of nuclear material’ in Syria")
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi Photograph: (AFP)
After the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syria’s new authorities have committed to working with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to address the nuclear activities during decades of Assad family rule. The nuclear material was not dangerous.
UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday that his agency found several tonnes of nuclear materials at a previously undeclared site dating from the rule of Syria’s previous government.
Addressing a joint press conference with Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Damascus, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief said, “After your courageous decision to inform us that there was another place, another site where nuclear material had been stored, we were able to access this place... we are talking about a few tonnes of nuclear material that could be put to bad use.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi visited a site containing nuclear materials in the country, and his agency collected samples.
“On July 17, we sent an official letter to the agency, in which we declared of our own free will the presence of nuclear materials at an undeclared site within the legacy left by the former regime,” Shaibani said at the press conference, adding that Grossi and the agency team completed their site visit this morning and collected the necessary samples.
Also Read: ‘Don’t beg,’ Pakistan strictly warns its Umrah pilgrims, tells them to fully comply with Saudi laws
The nuclear material was not dangerous and would remain in Syrian custody, subject to the IAEA’s guarantees, he added.
Asaad al-Shibani added that Syria has the right to use the material for civil and peaceful purposes.
After the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syria’s new authorities have committed to working with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to address the nuclear activities during decades of Assad family rule.
Syria is not known to hold operational stockpiles of nuclear material for a weapons programme, but Israel bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 in the country’s eastern province of Deir al-Zor.
Trending Stories
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
