The International Atomic Energy Agency reveals details about the secret Syrian nuclear program during the Assad era

Nearly two decades after Israel destroyed a “nuclear facility under construction” in the Deir ez-Zor region in Syria, the secret Syrian nuclear program has returned to controversy again, after the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that Syria was close to obtaining capabilities that could be used to manufacture fission weapons that could be used directly to manufacture nuclear weapons during the era of former President Bashar al-Assad.

The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said in a press conference on Monday that the nuclear reactor discovered in the Syrian region of Deir ez-Zor was almost complete and highly efficient, and it was possible to produce fissile material that could be used to produce materials to make nuclear weapons.

Grossi did not explicitly say that the purpose of the Syrian reactor was to manufacture nuclear weapons, but he stressed at a press conference in Vienna, where the IAEA's Board of Governors is holding its meetings this week, that it was clear that Syrian officials at the time "did not want the world to know what they were doing."

He added, "We know that, given the design and technical characteristics of this type of reactor, it is a highly efficient reactor for producing fissile material that can be used directly in the manufacture of nuclear weapons."

The agency announced in 2011 that the site was "most likely" a nuclear reactor built with North Korean assistance.

Grossi revealed that the investigation confirmed the presence of about “73 metric tons” of natural uranium metal, most of it in the form of “reactor fuel.”

Grossi had written in a tweet on the “X” platform, on August 18, “We have confirmed the presence of several tons of natural uranium metal,” in an undeclared location outside Damascus, and we agreed with the Syrian government that the undeclared material will be verified and subject to the agency’s routine protection procedures.

He added at the time that the agency had visited a site where large quantities of graphite were stored, which is also linked to previous nuclear activities in Deir ez-Zor, and thanked the Syrian government “for its proactive cooperation.”

Grossi's statements came a few days after a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated that the facilities found in Deir ez-Zor were consistent with nuclear reactor specifications.

The current Syrian government had announced the opening of a new page with the International Atomic Energy Agency, in transparent cooperation to address the outstanding nuclear files from the era of the previous regime.

Indeed, a delegation from the agency, headed by Grossi, visited Syria last August, at the invitation of the Syrian government, and inspected the site in Deir ez-Zor and a second site connected to the nuclear materials that Syria recently discovered, according to an official statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Syrian Expatriates.

The statement said that Syria took the initiative “on its own initiative” to inform the agency of these issues, based on its conviction that complete transparency in this field is an integral part of Syria’s role as a source of stability and security in its surroundings.

In addition to the reactor that was under construction, the agency reported finding a nuclear fuel production site and 73 tons of natural uranium, including 55 tons of fuel rods and the rest in the form of waste.

"Operation Orchard"

About two decades ago, on the night of September 6, 2007, the world woke up to news of an unknown air strike that destroyed unknown facilities in the Al-Kubar area on the banks of the Euphrates River, in the countryside of the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor.

Israeli media came out at the time to say that Israel was behind the attack and that the planes targeted a secret Syrian facility that was being prepared to enrich uranium with the help of experts from North Korea, but there was no official recognition from Israel. Syria also denied at the time that the targeted site was a nuclear reactor under construction, and confirmed that it was just a military facility or an abandoned base under construction.

On September 16, 2007, the British newspaper “The Times” revealed an Israeli attack on September 5 with aircraft that targeted a site that Syria was building with the help of North Korea, a secret nuclear reactor in Al-Kubar in Deir ez-Zor.

The newspaper indicated in its report that an Israeli special unit confirmed the target before the strike.

She said that the "Siret Matkal" unit in the Israeli army carried out a raid on a nuclear site under construction in Syria, and returned with evidence and equipment that turned out to be made in North Korea. It also monitored the presence of North Korean experts at the Syrian site, so the final decision at the time was by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to destroy the facility in an air attack, similar to what happened with the "Tammuz" reactor in Iraq in the 1980s.

Israel officially recognized the operation in March 2018 after years of secrecy, stressing that the strike targeted a military nuclear reactor and represented an “existential threat” to Israel, and that the operation was called “Operation Orchard,” and was carried out using four F-16 aircraft and four F-15 aircraft.

Then-Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in 2018 that the entire region should learn the lesson from the strike carried out by Israel in 2007 against a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor.

He added in a statement, "The motives of our enemies have grown in recent years, but the ability of the Israeli Defense Forces has also grown."

The Israeli army explained at the time that the attack took place in Deir ez-Zor, 450 kilometers northeast of Damascus, and came after tactical and strategic intelligence information indicating that the reactor would become operational before the end of 2007.

Assassination of Assad's "nuclear" advisor

Israeli confessions did not stop at the destruction of the Deir ez-Zor reactor in 2007, but rather extended to the assassination of Brigadier General Muhammad Suleiman, in 2008, who, according to the Israeli account, was primarily responsible for the Syrian nuclear program.