IAEA says accounting for Assad-era nuclear project top priority

Nuclear materials linked to Syria’s abandoned nuclear programme must be fully accounted for and secured, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog has warned, citing concerns over potential proliferation risks amid ongoing instability in the country.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi told The National that locating and verifying the remnants of the former Assad regime’s failed nuclear project is one of the agency’s top priorities this year, particularly as fighting continues between armed militias and government forces in north-east Syria.

“It’s very, very important for the IAEA to return,” Grossi told The National on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.

Israel bombed the Al Kibar reactor near Deir Ezzor in 2007 following intelligence assessments that the facility was close to completion, reportedly with extensive support from North Korea. While it was later estimated that 96 per cent of Syria’s chemical stockpile had been destroyed, international inspectors were denied access to the nuclear site for nearly two decades.

Following the overthrow of former president Bashar Al Assad in December 2024, Syria’s new leadership under President Ahmad Al Shara invited the IAEA to visit previously restricted sites. Inspectors who conducted initial assessments in September reported finding traces of uranium.

“I was in Damascus last year with President Al Shara, with Foreign Minister [Asaad] Al Shibani. We visited one of the relevant sites ... that were related possibly to the development of nuclear weapons,” Grossi said. “Not all of the remnants of that programme have been secured and checked. So we have there – and we hope not – but a potential source of proliferation, especially in an environment that is not completely secured, and where different military groups are moving around.”

The former Assad government had consistently denied any knowledge of the Israeli strike or the existence of a nuclear programme. In contrast, Syria’s current authorities have cooperated with international inspectors.

“The reaction from the government has been positive, has been constructive,” Grossi said. “We’re trying to continue this work, which is going to be one of our main tasks during the year.”

By Sabina Mammadli