The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded that Syria, under former president Bashar al-Assad, came close to acquiring the capability to produce fissile material usable in nuclear weapons. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed at a press conference in Vienna that a reactor discovered at Deir ez-Zor, in northeastern Syria, was nearly complete and highly capable of producing weapons-grade fissile material, adding that Syrian officials had clearly sought to conceal their activities from the international community. Investigators also found around 73 metric tonnes of natural uranium at the site, mostly in the form of reactor fuel rods — findings that carry significant implications for regional security and non-proliferation efforts. The site was destroyed in a 2007 Israeli airstrike, known as "Operation Orchard," which Israel officially acknowledged only in 2018, and Syria's current post-Assad government has invited the IAEA to cooperate fully in addressing the unresolved nuclear questions left by the previous regime.