‘Syria and Iran building secret nuclear plant’

SYRIA IS reportedly building a secret nuclear facility with the help of Iran and North Korea.

According to German magazine Der Spiegel, the facility is located close to the Syria-Lebanon border and is believed to contain a nuclear reactor.

The German magazine said Iranian scientists had contributed to the construction of the site, and that “experts believe that the new nuclear facility could never have been built without North Korean know-how”.

It added that Israel had been unaware of the facility’s existence.

The magazine cited Western intelligence reports as the source for the information, claiming that it had obtained exclusive documents, satellite photos and phone calls intercepted by intelligence agencies.

It said that the Syrian regime had transferred 8,000 fuel rods to the new facility from its previous nuclear reactor in the north-eastern Deir Al-Zour region, which was destroyed in 2007 in what was alleged to be an Israeli air strike.

The publication also quoted an International Atomic Energy Agency report stating that Syria “possesses up to 50 tonnes of natural uranium, enough material for three to five [nuclear] bombs once the enrichment procedure i s completed”.

Der S pi e g e l reported that the reactor was being built deep underground, near the town of Qusayr, and that it had access to electricity and water supplies. The reported added that the site had access to Syria’s power grid via the nearby city of Blosah.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied that experts from his country were helping Syria build a nuclear reactor.

He described Der Spiegel’s allegations as “funny”.

‘Syria has enough uranium to make three to five bombs’