US brokered nuclear deal with Syria

 

TT

 

Published 11.00

 

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Archive photo. Photo: Alastair Grant/AP/TT

The UN atomic energy agency IAEA will begin removing nuclear material stored at a secret site in Syria. This after the US brokered an agreement between Syria and the IAEA, according to sources to Axios.

The background is that the Assad regime, which ruled Syria until 2024, had developed a secret nuclear energy program. Much was destroyed in Israeli bombings in 2007. But several research facilities and storage facilities survived.

After the fall of the Assad regime, the IAEA signed an agreement with Damascus to visit sites linked to the country's nuclear energy program. But Israel has threatened to bomb the sites again if the nuclear material is not removed.

Israel has, according to Axios, seen signs that the new Syrian government has tried to access the material. The US reportedly asked Israel to wait and then brought the IAEA in, according to Axios. The agreement was signed three weeks ago.