Syria renews IAEA cooperation pledge, seeks end to non-compliance case
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Syria reaffirmed its readiness to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, calling for its non-compliance case to be closed and removed from the agency’s agenda.
During an official briefing in Vienna attended by representatives and ambassadors of IAEA member states, the Syrian Foreign Ministry and Syrian Atomic Energy Commission presented measures taken by Damascus to address the longstanding nuclear file.
The measures included the voluntary disclosure of previously undeclared nuclear materials and placing them under the IAEA’s safeguards and international monitoring system.
In two separate statements, the Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Commission said Syria had informed participants of a government decision to allow the IAEA access to the Deir ez-Zor site for the first time in more than 18 years. The agency was also informed of another previously undeclared site containing nuclear materials.
Damascus said the measures demonstrated its level of cooperation with the agency and its desire to strengthen confidence and communication with the international community over the nuclear file.
Mudar al-Okla, head of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission, expressed hope that the IAEA would take what he described as the “positive step” it had previously pledged to take by ending the non-compliance case.
He warned that keeping the issue on the agenda of the IAEA Board of Governors during its September session could lead to the unnecessary use of resources and efforts.
Syria was placed under the non-compliance designation in 2011 over its failure to declare a suspected nuclear facility in Deir ez-Zor and to provide information requested by the IAEA about activities linked to the site. The case remains before the agency’s Board of Governors despite efforts to resolve it.
Al-Okla said the current Syrian government bears no responsibility for undeclared nuclear activities linked to the previous government that led to Syria being placed under the non-compliance designation.
He added that Damascus had treated the issue as a national responsibility and had made a strategic decision based on full cooperation with the IAEA, with the highest levels of openness and transparency.
Syrian authorities had provided the agency with extensive technical and logistical facilities, which he described as unprecedented and unconditional, allowing international experts to obtain answers to their inquiries and providing the conditions needed for verification and inspection operations, he said.
Syrian authorities had also worked to identify information and nuclear materials related to the case, al-Okla said, adding that materials found had been placed under national safeguards and monitoring in coordination with and under the supervision of the IAEA.