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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

IAEA Says Syria Appears to Have Pursued Military Nuclear Aims

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Context piece
  • IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Syria’s previous government developed an undeclared nuclear program whose reactor design could have supported plutonium production.
  • Grossi said the new Syrian government’s decision to allow IAEA visits and verification marked a historic opening and could help restore the country’s international ties.
  • The IAEA’s governing board is reviewing Syria’s nuclear activities alongside issues involving Iran and Ukraine.

The previous Syrian regime under Bashar al-Assad appears to have pursued a nuclear program with military aims, according to International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi.

Speaking in Vienna, Grossi referred to a reactor in Syria’s eastern Deir al-Zour province that Israel destroyed in 2007. He said the facility’s configuration and technical characteristics showed it was highly efficient at producing plutonium, a material that could be used directly to make nuclear weapons.

I cannot judge the intentions, but it is very clear that these activities, first of all, were not declared.

· Rafael GrossiHe was discussing the undeclared reactor in Syria’s Deir al-Zour province.

“I cannot judge the intentions, but it is very clear that these activities, first of all, were not declared,” Grossi told reporters. The activities had always been denied, he said, but they represented “a very serious proliferation concern.”

A very serious proliferation concern.

· Rafael GrossiHe described the concern raised by the reactor’s suspected plutonium-production capability.

Grossi described the new Syrian government’s openness to clarifying the country’s past nuclear activities as “historic.” The government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, agreed last year to allow IAEA visits and verification at nuclear facilities. The agency said Syria’s former atomic program included a reactor under construction, a fuel fabrication plant, and a storage site for fuel and waste.

The IAEA Board of Governors began its autumn meeting with Syria, Iran and Ukraine among the issues on its agenda. The board determined in 2011 that Syria was failing to meet its nuclear obligations, an issue Assad never resolved. The agency gained unrestricted access to relevant sites only in June 2025, after Grossi met al-Sharaa.

Historic.

· Rafael GrossiHe used the word to describe the new Syrian government’s policy of opening nuclear sites to IAEA inspections.

Grossi said transparency was essential if Syria wanted to advance its economy and restore political, economic and other ties with the international community. He said the country was now complying with its voluntarily assumed international obligations, adding that its change from an unclear past could offer lessons elsewhere, including Iran, whose nuclear program remains disputed.

The option of transparency is fundamental for Syria to move forward with its economy, to restore its political, economic and other ties with the international community.

· Rafael GrossiHe described the importance of Syria’s cooperation with the IAEA.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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