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

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.

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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.

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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.