US, Israel agree to remove nuclear material from secret Syrian site

The United States and Israel have reached an agreement with Damascus to extract nuclear material from a clandestine site in Syria, according to Axios. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to gain access to the location, identified as Site 99, to collect materials believed to be remnants from Syria's Al-Kibar reactor, which Israel bombed in 2007.

Site 99 reportedly contains yellowcake, a concentrated uranium powder that can be processed into nuclear fuel. While not directly usable for nuclear bombs, it could be dispersed using conventional explosives, causing radioactive contamination akin to a dirty bomb. Israel bombed the site shortly after a US-backed coalition of Islamist fighters took control of Damascus in December 2024, ousting President Bashar Al-Assad.

An Israeli official told Axios that the former Syrian regime had threatened to bomb the site again if the nuclear material was not removed or if Syria attempted to access it. The current Syrian President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former wanted jihadist commander, is now working to improve his country's relations with Western nations and attract foreign aid to war-torn Syria.

Al-Sharaa revealed last month that he was negotiating a security agreement with Israel, which has occupied parts of southwestern Syria since 2024 and expanded its presence beyond the Golan Heights. His government is also seeking to normalize relations with Russia, which provided military support to Bashar Al-Assad. Moscow and Damascus recently agreed to reorganize Russia's Khmeimim air base and naval facilities in Tartous into a joint training center, allowing Russia to maintain its military presence post-Assad.

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the regime threatened to bomb the site again if the nuclear material was not removed or if Syria attempted to access it.