The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told member states on Monday it had detected uranium traces in Syria during an investigation into a building destroyed by Israel in 2007, long suspected of being a secret nuclear reactor.
Syria’s ousted president Bashar al-Assad had claimed the Deir ez-Zor site was only a conventional military base. But in 2011, the IAEA concluded the facility was “very likely” a covert reactor that Damascus should have declared.
As part of a renewed probe last year, the agency took environmental samples from three sites functionally linked to Deir ez-Zor. In one, it found “a large number of natural uranium particles” produced by chemical processing — confirming a man-made origin. Although the uranium was not enriched, its presence raises further questions about Syria’s past nuclear activities.
Syria’s current Islamist-led authorities allowed inspectors to take additional samples in June 2025. During a meeting that month, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi secured President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s pledge of “full transparency” and cooperation, including possible access to Deir ez-Zor itself in the coming months.