Overview
- IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Tuesday that inspectors have found several tonnes of nuclear material at previously undeclared sites in Syria and have begun on-site excavation and sampling.
- Teams are working at the Deir el-Zour location linked to the Al-Kibar reactor and at least one other storage site to collect samples, verify quantities, and create a full inventory for international safeguards.
- Syria informed the IAEA on July 17 that undeclared nuclear material existed at one site and invited inspections, a disclosure the new Syrian government says signals cooperation and a civilian nuclear intent.
- U.S. diplomacy and reported Israeli monitoring and threats to strike helped produce the understandings that allowed IAEA access, though any full removal of the material has not been publicly confirmed.
- Officials say the material ties back to the Assad-era Al-Kibar program and is not by itself weapons-grade, but it could pose radiological risks, which is why accounting, safeguards, and possible IAEA-managed transfer are now priorities.