by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
VIENNA/DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says its inspectors have found traces of uranium at a Syrian site once believed to be part of a secret nuclear program under former President Bashar Assad.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the discovery at Deir el-Zour, where Israeli jets destroyed a building in September 2007 suspected of housing a nuclear reactor.
Israel did not officially acknowledge the strike until 2018, though it had long been suspected of carrying out the attack to prevent Damascus from developing nuclear weapons.
The IAEA’s latest findings suggest Israel was correct in its assessment. The report noted that the reactor in eastern Deir el-Zour province — allegedly built with North Korean assistance near the Iraqi border — was part of an undeclared program.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said some Syrian activities “were, in the judgment of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons.”
Last year, inspectors collected environmental samples at three locations allegedly linked to the Deir el-Zour site. Analysis revealed “a significant number of anthropogenic natural uranium particles in samples taken at one of the three locations,” IAEA spokesman Fredrik Dahl said.
“Some of these uranium particles are consistent with the conversion of uranium ore concentrate to uranium oxide,” he explained, calling the material typical for use in a nuclear power reactor.
The IAEA noted that Syria’s new Islamist-led government claimed to have no knowledge of the particles’ origin. However, it has granted the agency further access, including permission in June to collect additional samples, the IAEA announced.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
A federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily allowed the Trump administration to continue collecting its 10% global tariff, pausing a lower-court ruling that found the import duties unlawful for three plaintiffs who had won relief last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a short-term administrative stay while it considers whether to keep the tariffs in place during the government’s appeal.
Saudi Arabia launched covert airstrikes inside Iran during the recent Middle East war, according to a Reuters exclusive citing two Western officials and two Iranian officials — a move that, if confirmed, would mark the first known Saudi military action carried out directly on Iranian soil. The reported strikes came in late March after the kingdom suffered Iranian attacks, including missile and drone strikes that exposed vulnerabilities in the U.S.-backed security umbrella protecting Gulf Arab states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that Russia had successfully test-fired its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile — nicknamed “Satan II” by NATO — declaring it the most powerful missile in the world and saying it would enter combat service by the end of 2026.
Hungary’s new government signaled Monday it will continue buying Russian energy despite European Union plans to phase out imports of Russian oil and natural gas, raising the prospect of an early confrontation with Brussels.
More than 100 new evangelical churches have reportedly opened and thousands of people have been baptized in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, church leaders say.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said an agreement between Iran and the United States may be the best path to ending Israeli military operations in Lebanon, while defiantly rejecting any outside demand that the Iranian-backed terrorist group disarm.
U.S. federal prosecutors announced criminal charges Tuesday against the operator of the cargo ship that struck and destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, killing six construction workers.