The Syrian government has officially cleared the way for the United Nations to investigate remnants of a nuclear program operated under ousted President Bashar al-Assad. This move is seen as a significant step toward rebuilding ties with the international community.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Tuesday that the government is working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which reported finding several tonnes of nuclear material at a site in Damascus. The material is not dangerous and will remain in Syrian custody, subject to international safeguards.

Since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, Syrian authorities have committed to cooperating with the IAEA to address the legacy of nuclear activities from decades of Assad family rule. IAEA inspectors visited two sites, one in Deir ez-Zur and another linked to recently identified nuclear material.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi praised the government's "courageous decision" to report the undisclosed site. "We are talking about a few tonnes of nuclear material that could be put to bad use," he warned, promising to place it under international safeguards.

Minister al-Shaibani stated: "On July 17, we sent an official letter to the agency, declaring of our own free will the presence of nuclear materials at an undeclared site within the legacy left by the former regime." Syria is not known to hold operational stockpiles for a weapons program, but Israel bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 in Deir ez-Zur.

Source: www.aljazeera.com