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Russian Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Restarted after Maintenance

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
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Russian Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Restarted after Maintenance

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

The Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany restarted on Thursday after 10 days of maintenance work, its operator told AFP.

"It's working," a Nord Stream spokesman said, without specifying the amount of gas being delivered. The German government had feared the pipeline would not be reopened by Moscow after the scheduled work.

According to data given by Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom to Gascade, the German operator of the line, 530 GWh would be delivered during the day.

This was only 30 percent of its capacity, Klaus Mueller, president of Germany's energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency, said on Twitter.

Gazprom has cut flows to Germany via the vital Nord Stream 1 pipeline by some 60 percent in recent weeks, blaming the absence of a Siemens gas turbine that was undergoing repairs in Canada.

The German government has rejected Gazprom's turbine explanation and believes Russia is squeezing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea has been shut down since July 11 to undergo annual maintenance.

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UN Nuclear Watchdog Can Guarantee Iran Will Not Develop Nuclear Weapons

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Nuclear Watchdog Can Guarantee Iran Will Not Develop Nuclear Weapons

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) speaks via video during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, about the conflict between Israel and Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, June 20, 2025. (Reuters)

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on Friday the International Atomic Energy Agency can do this “through a watertight inspection system.”

He said elements for an agreement on reining in Iran’s nuclear program have been discussed.

He was speaking at an emergency meeting of the Security Council about the Israel-Iran conflict.

Grossi called for “maximum restraint” in the war, adding: “A diplomatic solution is within reach if the necessary political will is there.”

He warned against any potential attack on Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant as well as a research reactor near Tehran, saying it could lead to radiation leaks with “severe consequences.”

Even a hit that disabled the two lines supplying electrical power to the Bushehr plant “could cause its reactor core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment,” he added.

Grossi said Israeli attacks on nuclear sites at Natanz and Isfahan and at the Arak heavy water plant have so far not led to any radiological release.

He said an Israeli military official erroneously reported Thursday that Bushehr was hit by an airstrike, but Israel then retracted that claim. He stressed that the confusion “underscored the vital need for clear and accurate communication.”

More on the Tehran Research Reactor

The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country’s atomic program.

The US actually provided Iran the reactor in 1967 as part of America’s “Atoms for Peace” program during the Cold War. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns

Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Arabian Gulf, some 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Tehran. Construction on the plant began under Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the mid-1970s. After the 1979 revolution, the plant was repeatedly targeted in the Iran-Iraq war. Russia later completed construction of the facility.

Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA.