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The Syrian Nuclear Mystery: Implications for the Region

On September 6, 2007 the Israeli Air Force reportedly hit and destroyed a site of military significance inside Syria. There has been no official comment from the Israeli, Syrian or American governments on the attack. However media sources, working from official sources off the record, have speculated on the nature of the Syrian site, suggesting that it might be a target of paramount military significance, perhaps even a clandestine nuclear reactor.

To address this mystery, the Center for National Policy brought together David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security and Robin Wright a reporter for the Washington Post and author with thirty years of experience in the region.

Albright’s team worked for weeks using satellite imagery and found the site of the September strike looking for a building that might be consistent with the contours of a nuclear reactor. However Dr. Albright could not confirm the Syrian site was in fact a nuclear reactor or in any way related to nuclear development.

Robin Wright reported being mystified as to why Syria would go down the path of nuclear weapons development considering they do not have the scientific infrastructure necessary for a nuclear program. Wright also suggested that the Syrian regime is in difficult economic straits, and a nuclear program would come at great costs.