IAEA finds uranium traces in Syria linked to site bombed by Israel

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have discovered traces of uranium at a site in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, where Israel destroyed a building in 2007.

At one of the three locations under investigation, numerous particles of natural uranium — processed by humans — were found, Caliber.Az reports via Western media.

"Natural" means the uranium had not been enriched.

However, the report did not specify what this material was used for.

The IAEA recalled that back in 2011 it suggested the building in Deir ez-Zor was very likely a covertly built reactor, which the Syrian authorities should have reported to the international body. Updated studies conducted last year enabled the agency to take environmental samples linked to the site for further analysis.

The current report notes that the Syrian authorities do not have information that could explain the presence of uranium particles. At the same time, the government, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, granted the IAEA access to the site in June this year to collect additional samples and to cooperate within the framework of the investigation into Syria’s past nuclear activities.

By Khagan Isayev