A Syrian building that was allegedly destroyed by Israel in 2007 was a nuclear facility, the International Atomic Energy Agency has announced.

The facility in eastern Syria, near Dawr az Zwar, caused controversy when it was claimed by Israel and US intelligence to have been a partially completed nuclear reactor capable of producing enough plutonium for one or two weapons per year, according to a report in The Economist in 2008.

Syria joined the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty in 1969, but the IAEA found that the country had not complied with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreements. The IAEA report singled out the Syrian Arab Republic’s failure “to declare the construction of a nuclear reactor at Dair Alzour, and failing to provide design information for the facility.”

At the IAEA’s Board of Governor’s meeting, Syria was urged to conform to safeguard agreements so that the IAEA could confirm safety issues. The Board also decided to report Syria’s non-compliance to the UN.

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Syria received approximately $14.5million in IAEA assistance from 1997-2007.