US and Israel Reach Deal with Syria to Remove Nuclear Material

The US and Israel have reached a deal with Damascus to remove nuclear material from a secret site in Syria, Axios reported on Monday, citing US and Israeli officials.

According to the publication, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be given access to the area, labeled ‘Site 99’, to recover material described as remnants from Syria’s Al-Kibar reactor, which Israel bombed in 2007.

The site reportedly contains yellowcake, a concentrated uranium powder that can eventually be processed into nuclear fuel. While the material cannot be used directly to make a nuclear bomb, it could potentially be dispersed using conventional explosives, causing radiological contamination in what is commonly known as a dirty bomb.

Israel reportedly bombed the entrances to the site shortly after a coalition of US-backed rebel groups captured Damascus in December 2024, toppling Syria’s longtime president, Bashar Assad. An Israeli official told Axios that Israel had threatened to bomb the site again if the nuclear material was not removed or if there were signs that Syria was attempting to access it.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist commander who was once on the US wanted list, has sought to improve the country’s relations with the West and attract foreign aid to Syria, which has been ravaged by civil war since 2011. Last month, he revealed that he was working on a security agreement with Israel, which has occupied parts of southwestern Syria since 2024, expanding its presence beyond the Golan Heights, which it has held since 1967.

Al-Sharaa’s government has also sought to normalize relations with Russia, which militarily supported Assad. Earlier this month, Moscow and Damascus agreed to reorganize Russia’s Khmeimim Airbase and naval facility in Tartus into joint training centers. The deal allows Russia to maintain a military presence in Syria following Assad’s fall.