An International Atomic Energy Agency delegation will visit Syria in the coming days to discuss nuclear material left over from the Assad regime, the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria has announced.
The announcement came as it was reported that the IAEA would soon remove nuclear material from a clandestine site in Syria, known as Site 99, under a US-brokered agreement.
In a statement published on Telegram, Syria’s atomic agency said it would receive an IAEA delegation “in the coming days to announce the significant progress” made by Damascus.
The atomic agency also stated its co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog and the US to “resolve the deposed [Assad] regime’s legacy” and restore Syria’s full engagement with the IAEA, the official Sana news agency reported.
The move follows months of diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump's administration to reach an understanding with Syria and Israel over Site 99, Axios said, citing Israeli and US officials.
The agreement aims to secure the nuclear material stored at the site and to prevent a potential escalation involving Israel, Syria and possibly Turkey, the US media outlet reported.
What's stored at Site 99?
The Assad regime reportedly stored nuclear material intended for the Al Kibar nuclear reactor project at Site 99.
The Al Kibar reactor was an unfinished nuclear research facility in the Deir Ezzor region of eastern Syria. Israel bombed the complex in 2007, largely destroying the facility and disrupting Syria’s nuclear programme.
In May 2011, the IAEA concluded that “the destroyed building was very likely a nuclear reactor”, based on its dimensions as seen in ground photographs and satellite imagery, as well as the layout of the site and its water-pumping facilities, the presence of nuclear materials in environmental samples, and inconsistencies with Syria’s stated function of the site.
Several research, development and storage sites remained after the Israeli attack, although most were inactive, Axios reported.
It cited a US official as saying the material stored at Site 99 included yellow cake, a powder produced from uranium ore that can be further processed and enriched as part of the nuclear fuel cycle.
While the material cannot be used to produce a nuclear weapon, it could be used in a “dirty bomb” – a conventional explosive device designed to disperse radioactive material and contaminate an area rather than cause a nuclear explosion.
After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the IAEA reached an agreement with Syria’s new government allowing the UN nuclear watchdog to visit the Al Kibar reactor and other sites linked to the country’s past nuclear activity, Axios reported.
Israeli officials told Axios that the Israeli army bombed the entrances to Site 99 shortly after Assad’s fall to prevent access to the material. Israel also threatened to strike the site again if the material was not removed or if there were signs that Syria was attempting to access it.
The threats, along with mounting tensions over the site, led to a US-brokered agreement between the IAEA and the Syrian government to remove the remaining nuclear material.
US officials said the operation at Site 99 was still under way and the material had not yet been removed. “We think everybody is happy with the result. Hopefully we will be able to kick off the removal process soon and end it before the end of the year,” a US official told Axios.
