Morocco helps close a nearly 20-year-old nuclear case
Morocco took part in the adoption of a resolution ending one of the oldest nuclear cases monitored by the IAEA. The case concerned a secret reactor built in Syria under Bashar al-Assad and destroyed by Israel in 2007.
The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted by consensus on Wednesday, September 9, a resolution jointly presented by Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. The text makes it possible to close the examination of Syria’s non-compliance with its nuclear obligations.
Morocco’s role was confirmed by the British government, which publicly thanked the four Arab countries behind the resolution. London supported the text, considering that the progress made now allowed this case to be removed from the IAEA’s regular agenda.
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The case dates back to 2007. That year, Israel destroyed a site located in Deir ez-Zor, in eastern Syria. The IAEA subsequently concluded that it was very likely a nuclear reactor under construction that should have been declared. In June 2011, its Board of Governors officially declared Syria to be in non-compliance and referred the case to the UN Security Council.
73 tonnes of uranium found
The fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 changed the situation. The new Syrian authorities agreed to open several sites to international inspectors and provide information that had previously been missing.
The investigations notably enabled the IAEA to find approximately 73 tonnes of natural uranium, including 55 tonnes in the form of fuel rods, reports Associated Press. These materials have now been placed under the agency’s surveillance.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the information and access obtained had made it possible to resolve the unanswered questions concerning Syria’s former nuclear activities. On August 27, Syria also transmitted the technical information describing the Deir ez-Zor facility as a reactor that has now been dismantled.
Morocco has maintained close cooperation with the IAEA for several years. An international mission had notably judged Morocco’s capacity to respond to a nuclear emergency to be robust. The Kingdom has also more recently become involved in several international initiatives concerning the development of civilian nuclear power.
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The resolution put forward with Morocco does not, however, mean the end of all monitoring of Syria. Damascus remains subject to its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and the IAEA will continue its verifications, including searches at the Deir ez-Zor site.