nuclear-news

Nuclear material found in Syria will remain in the country, minister says

By Reuters, August 19, 2026

 Nuclear material found at an undisclosed site in Syria was ​not dangerous and would remain ‌in Syrian custody, subject to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s guarantees, Syria’s foreign minister ​said on Tuesday.

Asaad al-Shibani added ​in a joint press conference with ⁠IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in ​Damascus that Syria had the right to ​use the material for civil and peaceful purposes.

Since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad ​in late 2024, Syria’s new authorities ​have committed to working with the United Nations’ ‌nuclear ⁠watchdog to address the legacy of nuclear activities during decades of Assad family rule.

Grossi said the agency was ​able to ​access ⁠the site after the Syrian government notified it.

Syria is ​not known to hold operational ​stockpiles ⁠of nuclear material for a weapons programme, but Israel bombed a suspected ⁠Syrian ​nuclear reactor in 2007 ​in the country’s eastern province of Deir al-Zor.

Reporting ​by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Alex Richardson

August 24, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Syria