International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors have discovered several tonnes of nuclear material in Syria at a site that had not previously been known to the agency as a potential storage location, the organisation said. The discovery followed information provided by the Syrian government, which has now agreed that the material should remain in Syrian custody under international monitoring.
Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Schaibani said Syria had informed the IAEA about the material on 17 July and subsequently allowed the agency to conduct an initial inspection. IAEA officials later examined the site and collected samples for analysis.
The agency has not yet disclosed the precise nature of the material. However, the US portal Axios reported last week that it included so-called yellowcake, a weakly radioactive uranium concentrate that can be processed into reactor fuel.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi praised what he described as the “courageous” decision by the Syrian government to provide information about the discovery. Grossi did not identify the precise location where the material was found, but warned that it could potentially be “misused”.
Al-Schaibani said the initial assessment of samples taken by IAEA experts indicated that the material did not pose a danger. The material is expected to remain under Syrian custody while being placed under the IAEA’s monitoring system. Grossi likewise said it would be incorporated into international control systems.
IAEA personnel are expected to work alongside Syrian experts to establish secure arrangements for storing the material. The process is intended to ensure that the material remains subject to international oversight while further assessments determine its precise characteristics and significance.
The discovery has also raised questions about the origins of the material. Al-Schaibani described it as a “legacy of the former regime” of long-serving Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, who governed Syria from 2000. Assad was overthrown at the end of 2024 by fighters led by the Islamist HTS militia and fled to Russia.
Syria had never officially acknowledged having a nuclear programme. In 2007, Israel said it had destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction at Al-Kibar in the eastern Syrian region of Deir Essor. The Assad government denied at the time that the facility had been a nuclear installation.
An IAEA investigation concluded in 2011 that the site had been a secret reactor and that it bore similarities to a reactor in North Korea. The agency was unable to investigate those findings fully on the ground because of resistance from the Assad government and the Syrian civil war.
The latest discovery could therefore provide further evidence about activities that remained disputed for years. Grossi said the material found now supported the suspicion that Syria had probably sought to build a nuclear reactor during the Assad era.
The IAEA’s ongoing assessment will determine more about the material and its history. For now, the Syrian government has committed to keeping it under its custody while international monitoring is strengthened, placing the newly discovered nuclear material under a system designed to prevent its misuse.
