IAEA Confirms Syria Constructed Secret Nuclear Reactor Under Assad Regime

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that the former Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad attempted to construct a nuclear reactor in the eastern province of Deir Az Zor. According to a confidential report released on Tuesday, the UN nuclear watchdog conducted inspections and verification work at several sites in Syria in August.

Based on observations at the Deir Az Zor site, the agency confirmed that the uncovered cooling infrastructure is consistent with that of a nuclear reactor. The IAEA stated it will continue to monitor activities at the site as excavation work progresses.

Syria is believed to have operated an extensive undeclared nuclear program under al-Assad, which included a nuclear reactor built by North Korea in Deir Az Zor. The site only became public knowledge after Israeli airstrikes destroyed the facility in 2007. Syria subsequently leveled the site and never responded fully to the IAEA’s questions about it.

Israel is believed to have its own undeclared atomic weapons program, making it the only country in the Middle East with nuclear bombs. Israel neither confirms nor denies having atomic weapons.

Following al-Assad’s removal in early December 2024, the new government agreed to give IAEA inspectors access to suspected former nuclear sites. The agency took samples at the site in 2024 and reported last year that they contained uranium particles.

In its Tuesday report, the IAEA said it was also able to establish that the former Syrian authorities had failed to report nuclear material, facilities, and activities. Besides the nuclear reactor under construction at Deir Az Zor, the IAEA listed a fuel fabrication plant, where the nuclear fuel for the reactor was manufactured, and a location where the nuclear fuel, as well as uranium scrap and waste, were stored.

During the visit to Syria, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and a team of senior inspectors also visited a previously undeclared site. The new Syrian administration notified the agency of the site’s existence in a July 17 letter and invited the IAEA to cooperate with the Syrian authorities in the inspection and verification of the site and of any nuclear material to be potentially found.

The IAEA said in its report that this new site contained natural uranium metal in the form of fuel rods with cladding. The agency verified the material and confirmed the presence of around 73 tonnes of natural uranium metal. The agency reported that all of this nuclear material is currently subject to Agency containment and surveillance measures.

The new Syrian authorities have also expressed an interest in developing a civilian nuclear energy program and said any nuclear material found in the country would remain in Syria’s custody under international safeguards.

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