IAEA: Deir ez-Zor reactor nearly complete, could have produced weapons

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said today that the nuclear reactor discovered in the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor was nearly complete and could have been used to produce fissile material used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

Speaking at a press conference in Vienna, Grossi explained that the reactor “was nearly complete and only needed to be loaded with fuel” to begin operation.

He added that the reactor’s design and technical characteristics made it “highly efficient for producing fissile material that could be used directly in the manufacture of nuclear weapons,” noting that this did not necessarily mean that the existence of military objectives for the program had been established.

Grossi’s remarks came days after an IAEA report stated that facilities discovered in Deir ez-Zor, linked to activities carried out during the tenure of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, were consistent with the specifications of a nuclear reactor.

Israel acknowledged in 2018 that it had bombed the site in 2007, saying that it had targeted a nuclear reactor that was under construction.

ANHA