A report issued by the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday revealed that the site of a Syrian complex allegedly bombed by Israel in September of 2007 bore "significant" levels of uranium particles.
The report on the agency's visit to the Syrian site in June 2008 was obtained by the Reuters news agency. It also said that the area had other features that were consistent with those of an undeclared nuclear reactor, something that Damascus denied vehemently after the site was bombed.
The confidential report said that IAEA agents intended to ask Syrian officials for access to the equipment and debris they had hurriedly cleared away from the site immediately following the air strike.
United States officials in Washington maintain that the target, which Israeli officials have never openly discussed, was a nearly-completed plutonium reactor that was well on the way to developing technology to create nuclear weaponry.
The Syrians have denied the allegations, with Foreign Minister Wallid Moallem insisting in a television broadcast several days ago that the traces of uranium found at the site resulted from the IAF ordinance dropped on the site.
The IAEA added in its report that further investigation is needed and urged Damascus to cooperate with its inspectors.
Iranian Nuclear Program Continues
The UN nuclear watchdog also issued its report on the progress of the Iranian uranium enrichment program that continues to grow despite three sets of sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic by the U.N. Security Council.
Iran has said that nothing will stop it from continuing to develop its nuclear technology, although it continues to insist that it will use atomic energy only for peaceful, domestic purposes.
Numerous intelligence reports have indicated otherwise, and both the United States and Israel have said repeatedly that Iran is intent upon creating a nuclear weapon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also repeatedly vowed to "wipe the Zionist State off the map" – an existential threat that the Israeli government has said it cannot and will not ignore.
Both reports have been submitted to the 35 member nations on the IAEA board; a copy of the report on the Iranian nuclear development program will also be forwarded to the U.N. Security Council.