Syria allows the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect an undeclared nuclear site

The Syrian authorities announced, on Tuesday (August 18), that they had allowed a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect an undeclared site from the era of the previous regime, which UN agency director Rafael Grossi said contained “a few tons” of nuclear materials.

The agency delegation's two-day visit included two sites, one in Deir ez-Zor, and another containing nuclear materials recently discovered by Syria, according to a joint statement.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani said in Damascus during a joint press conference with Grossi, "On July 17, we sent an official letter to the agency declaring, with free will, the presence of nuclear materials in an undeclared location within the legacy left by the defunct regime."

He added that Syria invited the agency to verify the site, and "this morning the Director General and the agency team completed visiting the site and collecting the necessary samples," without specifying its geographical location.

“Technical assessments,” according to Al-Shaibani, indicate that “these materials do not pose a danger,” explaining that they “will remain in Syrian national custody and subject to the agency’s safeguards system.” Grossi confirmed the visit to the "secret" site.

This site, according to a joint statement by the Syrian Foreign Ministry and the Agency, is related to “nuclear materials recently discovered by Syria.”

He said during the press conference, addressing Al-Shaibani, "After your brave decision to inform us of the existence of a site where nuclear materials were stored, we were able to reach this site."

He added, "This is of great importance because we are talking about a few tons of nuclear material that can be misused."

He added, "Our experts will now work intensively with your experts. We have been able to access the site and inspect it, and there is still a lot of work ahead of us until we are able to inventory all these materials and secure them safely." He considered, "We are now turning a page. We have begun to turn a page, and turning the page does not mean forgetting the past."

During his visit, Grossi also inspected the Al-Kibar site in Deir ez-Zor Governorate in the east of the country, which the agency suspects contained a nuclear reactor. Israel admitted in 2018 that it had bombed the site in 2007, noting that the United States had confirmed since 2008 that the raid was launched by the Hebrew state, and that the site was a secret nuclear reactor under construction.

Although Damascus denied these accusations, the International Agency announced in 2011 that it was “very likely” that the Al-Kibar site had hidden behind its walls a nuclear reactor being built with help from North Korea.

Pierre Razou, academic director of the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies, believes that "these nuclear materials, whose nature and details are still unknown until now, are linked to the Syrian nuclear program, which was stopped in 2007 following the Israeli raid on the Al-Kibar site."

Razo also does not rule out the possibility that there are materials in Syria that the Iraqis disposed of at the beginning of the third millennium. According to Grossi, agency teams are currently conducting “extensive excavation and exploration work” at the Deir ez-Zor site, considering it “critical because it confirms the assessment that the International Atomic Energy Agency has long adopted, which is that a nuclear facility was being built secretly.”

According to the joint statement, Grossi was briefed on “the drilling work carried out by Syria in Deir ez-Zor Governorate,” and “he inspected landmarks at the site relevant to the agency’s assessment of the activities related to the nuclear field that were previously taking place there.”

Grossi's visit comes after the American website "Axios" published a report on August 10, quoting Israeli and American officials, that the IAEA would remove "nuclear materials stored in a secret site in Syria" after the United States reached "understandings with Syria and Israel" in this regard.

Axios stated that Israel was closely monitoring what is known as “Site 99,” in which the former ruler stored nuclear materials that were “part of the Al-Kibar nuclear reactor project.”