A Syrian site held infrastructure “consistent with a nuclear reactor,” the UN nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Tuesday, adding that the country’s former authorities “failed to report nuclear material, facilities and activities.”

Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month visited two sites, one in Deir Ezzor and a second location related to nuclear material identified by Syria.

The Deir Ezzor site nuclear reactor was the target of an Israeli strike in September 2007. Israel did not officially take responsibility for the bombing for more than a decade, in part to avoid retaliation from Damascus. But Jerusalem was widely presumed to be behind the strike, and officially acknowledged it in 2018.

“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 IAEA said.

The agency said it would continue to monitor the activities at the site “as the excavation work progresses.”

“Based on the........

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