The International Atomic Energy Agency will soon remove nuclear material from clandestine facilities in Syria, after the White House reached understandings with Damascus and Israel, Axios reported on Tuesday.

The report, which cited Israeli and US officials, said a “dramatic, behind-the-scenes exchange of threats and diplomacy” erupted months ago concerning the secret site, and was only resolved several weeks ago with an agreement to remove the material, possibly by the end of this year.

In 2007, Israel bombed the al-Kibar reactor in Deir Ezzor, Syria, where then-president Bashar al-Assad was — according to Israeli, US, and IAEA assessments — building a secret nuclear weapons program.

The attack, which Israel refused to comment on until 2018, is believed to have ended the regime’s efforts to build a nuclear weapon. However, some research-and-development and storage sites remained intact, according to Axios.

Two Israeli officials told the outlet that a facility referred to as “Site 99” was used by the Assad regime to store nuclear material that remained in its possession after the al-Kibar reactor was destroyed.

The material included yellowcake, a uranium ore powder that can be used for a “dirty bomb” — a conventional bomb that also disperses........

© The Times of Israel