IAEA Confirms Syria Reactor Site, Still Blocked in Iran

The UN nuclear watchdog says excavation at a Syrian site bombed by Israel in 2007 has uncovered infrastructure "consistent with that of a nuclear reactor," and that the ousted Assad government hid it from inspectors.

The finding appears in a confidential quarterly International Atomic Energy Agency report circulated to member states on Tuesday, September 1, and seen by AFP, the Associated Press and Reuters.

The same report says the IAEA has made no progress in three months on Iran, where it still cannot get access to bombed nuclear facilities or account for the country's stockpile of enriched uranium.

What The IAEA Found In Syria

"Based on observations made by the agency at the Deir Ezzor site, the agency confirms that the cooling infrastructure which has now been uncovered is consistent with that of a nuclear reactor," the report said, according to AFP.

The agency said it would keep monitoring the site "as the excavation work progresses."

On the wider question of Syrian disclosure, the report said: "Based on the information provided by Syria and the results of the agency's verification activities conducted at several locations in Syria, the agency is able to establish that the former Syrian authorities had failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities."

Alongside the "nuclear reactor under construction" at Deir Ezzor, the IAEA listed a fuel fabrication plant where fuel for the reactor was manufactured, and a location where that fuel plus uranium scrap and waste were stored, AFP reported.

The agency said it found around 73 tonnes of natural uranium metal — 55 tonnes of it fuel rods, the rest scrap and waste. It confirmed its earlier assessment that the reactor under construction was a gas-cooled, graphite-moderated design.

Inspectors visited two sites last month: Deir Ezzor and a second location tied to nuclear material identified by Syria. At two other Syrian locations visited on August 19 they found no nuclear material or equipment, and environmental sample results are still pending.

Newsmax, citing the AP's copy of the report, reported that inspectors visited several sites in Syria in August and carried out verification work.

What The IAEA Cannot See In Iran

Reuters, in a dispatch headlined "IAEA reports progress in Syria investigation, none in Iran," reported the agency has gone three months without advancing verification of key parts of Iran's nuclear program.

The report called for "utmost urgency" and said the "lack of information about this nuclear material and access to facilities to verify it is a matter of proliferation concern," Al Jazeera reported.

Iran International, citing Reuters' copy of the report, said the agency still cannot determine the status of Iran's fourth declared uranium-enrichment facility, at the Nuclear Reactors Fuel Company site in Isfahan. Iran notified the IAEA of the plant on June 12, 2025 — adding to two plants at Natanz and one at Fordow — and the agency's first design verification visit was scheduled for the next day, then cancelled when Israeli strikes began.

The agency has never inspected the plant. It says it does not know its precise location, whether it ever became operational, or whether it held nuclear material. Iran later told the IAEA the facility had been struck militarily, which the agency has not been able to verify.

Al Jazeera reported the IAEA also flagged the lack of access to the Isfahan plant, which has been targeted repeatedly by the US and Israel.

The last verified accounting of Iran's stockpile, before the agency lost visibility, put it at 2,391.1 kg of uranium enriched up to 2%, 6,024.4 kg up to 5%, 184.1 kg up to 20% and 440.9 kg enriched up to 60% — close to weapons grade, per Iran International. The agency has not been able to verify current quantities or locations since.

Grossi said earlier this year the agency believed a little more than 200 kg of the 60% material had been stored in the wider Isfahan tunnel complex and was likely still there, Iran International reported.