Symbolic imageIAEA to remove nuclear material from secret Syrian site under US-brokered deal
The IAEA is to remove nuclear material from an undisclosed site in Syria under a US-brokered deal. Syrian officials say they did not know it was there.
Axios reported on Monday, 10 August, citing Israeli and US officials, that Washington, Damascus and Israel reached the arrangement weeks ago, and that the IAEA and the Syrian government signed a removal accord three weeks ago. US officials say the operation at the site, known as 'Site 99', is still running, that nothing has yet been taken out, and that they expect it to be finished by the end of the year.
What the site holds
A US official said the material includes yellowcake, a powder obtained from uranium ore, and other residue from the al-Kibar reactor, a plutonium facility built with North Korean help in the Deir Ezzor region. It cannot be used for a nuclear weapon, but could serve for a 'dirty bomb'.
Israeli threat, Turkish suspicion
Israeli officials say Israel warned Washington it would not let the material stay and threatened to strike the site again, after its army bombed the entrances following Assad's fall. Weeks ago Israeli services saw movement there and suspected Syrian attempts to reach it, possibly with Turkish help, prompting Washington to ask Israel to hold off; US officials say a strike was never imminent.
Other opinions
Both accounts rest on the same Axios report: the Jerusalem Post frames the deal as validation of Trump's Syria policy, which Serbia's Politika omits.