VIENNA, Sept 9 - The IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors on Wednesday approved a resolution that effectively draws a line under covert nuclear work carried out in Syria during the rule of the Assad family, saying that the agency's remaining questions have been addressed.
The campaign of scrutiny began after an Israeli airstrike in 2007 struck a facility in Deir al-Zor, in eastern Syria, which Israel said was a secret nuclear reactor nearing completion. At the time the IAEA pressed Syria to disclose its activities, a demand that was not met under the prior authorities. In 2011 the board declared Syria to be in breach of its non-proliferation obligations and referred the matter to the U.N. Security Council.
Following the overthrow of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, the country’s new authorities pledged to cooperate with the IAEA to resolve questions about past activities. According to a confidential report to member states last week, the IAEA said it had resolved all outstanding issues that had been reported to the board.
The board resolution, submitted by Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, states: "(The board) welcomes the transparency and cooperation of the Syrian Arab Republic, commends it for the actions taken in resolving its non-compliance." Diplomats attending the closed-door meeting said the resolution passed by consensus, meaning no state objected.
The IAEA's assessment confirmed that it was "very likely" the site struck in 2007 was a nuclear reactor, and that fuel for that facility had been manufactured in Syria. Inspectors located approximately 73 metric tons of natural uranium metal inside the country, most of which was found in the form of fuel rods.
That nuclear material is now under the oversight of the IAEA. Syria has said the material will remain on its territory.
Background chronology and agency findings are central to the resolution: the 2007 airstrike, the IAEA's 2011 finding of non-compliance and referral to the U.N. Security Council, the change in Syrian authorities in 2024, and the subsequent co-operation that the agency reports has answered its outstanding questions.
The board's unanimous adoption of the text submitted by a group of regional states marks an institutional conclusion to a sequence of inspections and assessments that culminated in the confidential report to member states, which the IAEA used as the basis for the board decision.
At this stage the IAEA retains oversight of the material discovered in Syria, and the agency's statement that the outstanding questions have been resolved underpins the board's finding that Syria is no longer in non-compliance with its obligations related to the matters previously reported.