Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog have begun excavation work at a site in Syria believed to be linked to a clandestine nuclear programme under the former government, the agency’s chief said on Thursday. The move comes as Syria’s new leadership has pledged full cooperation with the watchdog and said it remains interested in developing a peaceful nuclear programme.
Syria’s top diplomat said any nuclear material in the country’s custody would remain under international safeguards. Under former President Bashar Assad, Syria was believed to have run an extensive undeclared nuclear programme, including a reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir el-Zour province.
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IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi, speaking at a news conference in Damascus, said: “Myself and my team, we were inside the site of Deir el-Zour, where very comprehensive work of excavation and exploration is taking place now.” He also said another site containing nuclear material had been discovered, but did not give details. Grossi said Syria’s cooperation had “enormous importance” and added: “We’re talking about a few tons of nuclear material that could be put to bad use and Syria has decided to open up this site to the inspectors of the IAEA. This material will be accounted for and will be put within the international safeguard system.”
Syria had earlier allowed IAEA inspectors to visit some sites under Assad, but the country under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has now pledged full cooperation and granted access to suspected nuclear locations. Syria’s new leadership has also expressed an intention to develop nuclear energy. Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said: “Syria confirms, based on technical evaluations, that this material does not pose any danger. It will remain in Syria’s custody and will remain subject to the agency’s safeguard system.”
The Deir el-Zour site became public after Israel carried out airstrikes in 2007 that destroyed the facility. Syria later levelled the site and never fully answered IAEA questions about it. However, in 2024, before Assad was deposed in December that year, IAEA inspectors collected samples at three locations, and in 2025 said they had found traces of uranium at one site. Israel is widely believed to be the Middle East’s only state with nuclear weapons, though it has not declared its programme.
The inspections at Deir el-Zour and another newly identified site mark a fresh effort to examine Syria’s past undeclared nuclear activities, with the new government saying any material found will stay under international monitoring while it pursues peaceful nuclear development.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
