Blinken Says US Supporting Europe after Nord Stream Leaks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, February 1, 2022. Susan Walsh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo/File Photo
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, February 1, 2022. Susan Walsh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo/File Photo
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Blinken Says US Supporting Europe after Nord Stream Leaks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, February 1, 2022. Susan Walsh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo/File Photo
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, US, February 1, 2022. Susan Walsh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo/File Photo

The United States said Tuesday it was ready to help European allies on energy security after leaks were detected on the Nord Stream pipelines and said it was assessing whether sabotage was to blame.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was looking at reports that the leaks were "the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage", AFP said.

"If it is confirmed, that's clearly in no one's interest," Blinken told reporters.

"My understanding is the leaks will not have a significant impact on Europe's energy resilience," Blinken said.

But he added: "What's critical is that we are working day in day out, both on a short term basis and a long term basis, to address energy security for Europe and, for that matter, around the world."

He pointed to US efforts to step up shipments of liquified natural gas since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as US allies, notably Germany, tried to reduce their reliance on Russian energy.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan later tweeted that he had spoken to his "counterpart Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe of Denmark about the apparent sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines."

"The US is supporting efforts to investigate and we will continue our work to safeguard Europe’s energy security," he added.

A White House official earlier said that "we stand ready to provide support" to Europeans after the leaks.

Ukraine accused Russia of causing the leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, saying the alleged actions amount to "nothing more than a terrorist attack."

Photographs taken by the Danish military showed large masses of bubbles on the surface of the Baltic Sea, while Sweden's seismological institute reported underwater blasts.



Israel Says Delayed Iran’s Presumed Nuclear Program by Two Years

An Iranian protester holds up a poster of Iran's Revolutionary Guard aerospace division commander, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Iran, as an other person waves Iranian flag and one flashes a victory sign, during a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after the Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP)
An Iranian protester holds up a poster of Iran's Revolutionary Guard aerospace division commander, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Iran, as an other person waves Iranian flag and one flashes a victory sign, during a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after the Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Says Delayed Iran’s Presumed Nuclear Program by Two Years

An Iranian protester holds up a poster of Iran's Revolutionary Guard aerospace division commander, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Iran, as an other person waves Iranian flag and one flashes a victory sign, during a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after the Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP)
An Iranian protester holds up a poster of Iran's Revolutionary Guard aerospace division commander, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Iran, as an other person waves Iranian flag and one flashes a victory sign, during a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, after the Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP)

Israel claimed on Saturday it has already set back Iran's presumed nuclear program by at least two years, a day after US President Donald Trump warned that Tehran has a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes.

Trump has been mulling whether to involve the United States in Israel's bombing campaign, indicating in his latest comments that he could take a decision before the two-week deadline he set this week.

Israel said Saturday its air force had launched fresh air strikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran, as it kept up a wave of attacks it says are aimed at preventing its rival from developing nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has denied.

"According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb," Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar said in an interview published Saturday.

Saar said Israel's week-long onslaught would continue. "We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat," he told German newspaper Bild.

Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume talks with the United States that had been derailed by Israel's attacks.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said "we invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for."

But Araghchi told NBC News after the meeting that "we're not prepared to negotiate with them (the United States) anymore, as long as the aggression continues."

Trump was dismissive of European diplomacy efforts, telling reporters, "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this."

Trump also said he's unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table.

"If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do," he said.

Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo.

On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally busting markets largely abandoned on Friday.

A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on Friday based on its sources and media reports that at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.

Iran has not updated its tolls since Sunday, when it said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

Since Israel launched its offensive on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites but also hitting residential areas, Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people.

A hospital in the Israeli port of Haifa reported 19 wounded, including one person in a serious condition, after the latest Iranian salvo.

Israel's National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases.