The choice to withdraw nuclear material – born from an agreement between Washington, Israel and Damascus – aims to defuse a new crisis
New turning point in the Middle East. Quoting American and Israeli officials, Axios reported that the IAEA will soon take care of withdrawing nuclear materials stored in a clandestine site in Syria during the time of Bashar al Assad’s regime. The move will take place following an agreement reached between Washington, Jerusalem and Damascus. In particular, the Trump administration’s objective is to defuse the possible regional crisis that this atomic material could have fueled. «We think everyone is satisfied with the result. We hope to start the removal process soon and conclude it by the end of the year,” a US official said.
“Although the material at the site cannot be used for a nuclear weapon, it can be used for a ‘dirty bomb’, which is a conventional explosive device that disperses radioactive material to contaminate an area rather than cause a nuclear explosion,” he stressed. Axios. In this sense, shortly after the fall of Assad, Israel had bombed the entrances to the site in question, to prevent entry. However, in recent weeks, the Jewish State had feared that the current regime in Damascus, backed by Turkey, was trying to access the offending facility, with the aim of gaining possession of the atomic material. Donald Trump, fearing an Israeli attack, therefore reached an agreement with the IAEA and the Syrian government to remove the nuclear dust in question and thus reassure Jerusalem.
Let us remember that Israel views the current pro-Turkish regime in Damascus with some suspicion. Moreover, for the Jewish State, the Syrian question fits into the broader framework of the intense geopolitical competition underway between Jerusalem and Ankara. In this sense, Benjamin Netanyahu has never much appreciated the support offered by the White House to the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa. Not only that. The Israeli prime minister also fears Saudi Arabia’s progressive rapprochement with Damascus. Last month, the government in Riyadh showed appreciation for the United States’ decision to remove Syria from the list of sponsoring countries of terrorism. Furthermore, it is no mystery that, especially over the last year and a half, Saudi Arabia has increased its ties with Turkey. Moreover, it was last week, when Ankara and Riyadh signed, together with Islamabad, a security pact in Mecca.
This is also why the Trump administration has long been trying to ease tensions between Jerusalem and Damascus. It is therefore probably in this light that the agreement on nuclear material stored in Syria should be read. Without forgetting that, at the end of July, al-Sharaa revealed that he hoped for an agreement with Israel on security issues.
