IAEA Board of Governors
Agenda Item 6(d): Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic
6 June 2023
Statement by Ms Eugenie Hwang, Alternate Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Chair
Australia thanks the Director General for the update provided in his opening statement to the Board on the implementation of safeguards in the Syrian Arab Republic. We also thank the Secretariat for its continued efforts to address Syria’s non-compliance with its safeguards obligations.
Chair
Australia remains deeply concerned by Syria’s ongoing failure to address outstanding questions about undeclared facilities and activities at the Dair Alzour site, in line with the resolution adopted by the Board on 9 June 2011, GOV/2011/41. It is regrettable that Syria has remained unresponsive to the Director General’s letter from May last year, in which he re-stated his preparedness to meet with Syria to discuss its re-engagement with the Agency and continued to urge Syria to cooperate fully with the Agency in connection with all unresolved issues.
We once again urge Syria to cooperate fully and constructively with the IAEA to resolve outstanding safeguards questions related to the Dair Alzour site, and to demonstrate, to the Agency’s satisfaction, that its nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.
Chair
Until Syria returns to full compliance with its safeguards obligations and questions of Syria’s non-compliance are satisfactorily resolved, we request that this item be retained on the agenda for all future meetings of the Board.
Thank you Chair.