Arab News | UN nuclear watchdog supervises 73 tons of natural uranium in Syria

LONDON: The International Atomic Energy Agency supervises 73 tons of natural uranium in coordination with authorities in the Syrian Arab Republic, according to Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, the Syrian foreign minister.

Syria began to disclose in July clandestine nuclear sites developed during the era of the Bashar Assad regime, which collapsed in late 2024, and to inform the IAEA about nuclear material from that era.

On Monday, Al-Shaibani addressed the 70th session of the IAEA General Conference through a video link. He hailed the IAEA’s decision last week to end an investigation that dates back to 2011 regarding secret nuclear projects from the Assad era in Syria.

He thanked Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia for submitting the resolution, which was unanimously approved, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

IAEA inspectors visited Deir Ezzor in August after almost two decades of limited access, where they discovered that a near-complete nuclear reactor had been secretly built. However, it was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in 2007.

Al-Shaibani said that Syrian and IAEA experts subsequently began removing reactor remnants from beneath reinforced concrete. IAEA is now supervising 73 tons of natural uranium on Syrian soil, the SANA added.

He said the IAEA decision restored Syria’s standing among parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Syria and the IAEA signed a memorandum of understanding in July outlining a roadmap for peaceful nuclear uses in health, agriculture, water management, scientific research, and electricity generation.