Syria to give UN inspectors immediate access to suspected former nuclear sites

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi holds talks with President Ahmad Al Shara in Damascus

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi says Syria is eager to 'open up to the world'. AP

Syria has agreed to give inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency immediate access to suspected former nuclear sites, the group's director general has said.

The UN nuclear watchdog aims to “bring total clarity over certain activities that took place in the past that were, in the judgment of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons", Rafael Grossi told the AP on Wednesday. He said the Syrian government, led by President Ahmad Al Shara, was “committed to opening up to the world, to international co-operation”, adding that he is hopeful of finishing the inspection process within the coming months.

Mr Grossi’s remarks came after he met Mr Al Shara and other officials in Damascus. Mr Grossi said the Syrian leader expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear energy for the country in the future, adding: “Why not?”

An IAEA team visited some sites of interest in 2024, while former president Bashar Al Assad was in power. Since the downfall of his regime in December, the IAEA has sought to secure access to sites associated with Syria's nuclear programme.

Under Mr Al Assad, Syria was believed to have operated an extensive clandestine nuclear programme, which included an undeclared reactor built by North Korea in the eastern Deir Ezzor province.

The IAEA said the reactor was “not configured to produce electricity”, raising concerns that Damascus sought to develop a nuclear weapon there. The reactor site only became public knowledge after Israel launched air strikes that destroyed the facility in 2007. Syria later levelled the site and did not respond fully to questions from the IAEA.

Mr Grossi said inspectors planned to return to the reactor facility in Deir Ezzor, as well as to three other related sites. Other areas under IAEA safeguards include a miniature neutron source reactor in Damascus and a facility in Homs that can process yellow cake uranium.

“We are trying to narrow down the focus to those or that one that could be of a real interest,” he said.

While he said there were no indications that radiation had been released from the sites, the agency is concerned that “enriched uranium can be lying somewhere and could be reused, could be smuggled, could be trafficked".

He said Mr Al Shara, who has courted western governments since taking power, had shown a “very positive disposition to talk to us and to allow us to carry out the activities we need to".

Apart from resuming inspections in Syria, Mr Grossi said the IAEA was prepared to transfer equipment for nuclear medicine and to help rebuild radiotherapy and oncology infrastructure in a healthcare system severely weakened by 14 years of civil war. “And the President has expressed to me that he’s interested in exploring, in the future, nuclear energy as well,” added Mr Grossi.

Several countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Jordan, are pursuing nuclear energy in some form. Mr Grossi said Syria was likely to look into small modular reactors, which are cheaper and easier to use than traditional large reactors.