The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has disclosed new details about the Assad regime's clandestine nuclear ambitions, revealing that Syria came close to completing a secret reactor even after Israel destroyed a previous nuclear facility in 2007.
Investigators from the UN's atomic monitoring body have uncovered a nuclear reactor that reached an advanced stage of construction during the Assad era, likely built during or shortly before Syria's civil war. According to the IAEA, the facility was "nearly operational" and represented a significant advancement in Syria's pursuit of unconventional weapons capabilities.
The findings indicate that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad never abandoned his nuclear weapons aspirations, even following the Israeli airstrike on a reactor near Damascus in 2007.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi addressed the discovery directly: "We cannot determine intentions, but it is clear to us that the previous regime pursued covert pathways in the nuclear field. Based on the reactor's structure, its technical specifications and type, which is particularly efficient at producing fissile material that can be used directly in weapons, our assessment is that this reactor was a very important step in the Syrian attempt to achieve a new level of nuclear activity."
Grossi added that the reactor "was in a very advanced state of construction. It's possible the regime tried to sabotage and conceal it since then, but from our perspective there can be no mistake about it."
According to Grossi, IAEA investigators have identified no less than 73 tons of uranium metals in stockpiles dating from the Assad regime's rule, discovered during weeks of work in the country.
