Weekly Commentary: Uranium Metal Must Be Removed From Syria
Dr. Aaron Lerner . 19 August 2026
“Syrian officials said Tuesday the (uranium) material would remain in the country albeit under IAEA safeguards.”
Syria Takes Steps To Come Clean On Nuclear Past - Laurence Norman and Jared Malsin, reporting in The Wall Street Journal, Page A6, 19 August 2026

Absolutely not acceptable!

As Barak Ravid (Axios) and other sources have revealed, Syria AGREED TO ALL THE MATERIAL BEING REMOVED FROM SYRIA.

This is a deal Israel began pushing the moment a post-Assad regime was in place.

It was brokered through President Trump.

When the talks were launched, the new regime did not even know that the material existed!

To be clear: Israel insisted that the material be removed.

When Israel detected movements near the site where the material was stored, the Trump team convinced Israel that it would seal the deal so that Israel did not need to go in to remove the material by itself.

I want to emphasize this: we have a CRISIS NOW because we decided to rely on the Trump team’s word.

So now, suddenly, the new Syrian regime refuses to honor its commitment to let the IAEA team remove the tons of uranium from Syria.

Uranium which it has absolutely no ability to do anything legal with.

I do not know, and frankly do not care, if Mr. Trump’s BFF Erdogan is behind the Syrian change of heart or Ahmed al-Sharaa decided on his own to renege on the deal.
Either way, this is not something which can be ignored.

Not by Israel and ALSO not by President Trump.

It is an incredibly dangerous development in Syria and a catastrophic precedent for the treatment of U.S.-brokered deals worldwide.

There is no time to waste.

The Trump team - possibly Mr. Trump himself - must get the agreed arrangement back on track.