US intelligence officials said Thursday that a Syrian nuclear reactor built with North Korean help had been close to becoming operational when it was destroyed last year by an Israeli strike.

“We assess that the reactor was complete and startup could have begun at any time,” a senior US intelligence official told reporters.

“The reactor was destroyed in an Israeli air strike early in the morning of September 6, 2007 as it was nearing completion, but before it had been operated and before it was charged with uranium fuel,” the official said.

US intelligence officials also showed reporters a video that was presented earlier to US lawmakers as evidence of the North Korean-Syrian nuclear project.

The video outlines several key points:

“Syria was building a gas-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor that was nearing operational capability in August 2007.

“The reactor would have been capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, was not configured to produce electricity and was ill-suited for research.

“The reactor was destroyed in early September 2007 before it was loaded with nuclear fuel or operated.

“We are convinced based on a variety of information that North Korea assisted Syria’s covert nuclear activities both before and after the reactor was destroyed.”