A member of Syrian government forces, stands guard the Abu Duhur military air base area in Idlib province, on Jan. 21, 2018. (Credit: George Ourfalian / AFP)
Nuclear material found at an undisclosed site in Syria was not dangerous and would remain in Syrian custody, subject to the International Atomic Energy Agency's guarantees, Syria's foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Asaad al-Shibani added in a joint press conference with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in Damascus that Syria had the right to use the material for civil and peaceful purposes.
Since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syria's new authorities have committed to working with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to address the legacy of nuclear activities during decades of Assad family rule.
Grossi said the agency was able to access the site after the Syrian government notified it.
Syria is not known to hold operational stockpiles of nuclear material for a weapons programme, but Israel bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 in the country's eastern province of Deir al-Zor.
