Challenging 'Impulse to Destroy,' EU's Top Diplomat Vows to Stand With Iran Against Trump's Attack on Nuclear Deal

"It seems that screaming, shouting, insulting and bullying, systematically destroying and dismantling everything that is already in place, is the mood of our times."

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Jessica Corbett, staff writer

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Federica Mogherini is an Italian politician who serves as High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (Photo:  Annika Haas/EU2017EE/Flickr/cc)

As Iranians take to the streets to protest President Donald Trump—who ditched the Iran nuclear deal this week despite warnings that it could lead to "a potentially catastrophic military confrontation"—in a speech on Friday, Europe's top diplomat vowed to work with the international community to save the agreement and railed against Trump's style of politics.

"This impulse to destroy is not leading us anywhere good."
—Federica Mogherini,
EU's top diplomat

"We are determined to keep this deal in place," declared Federica Mogherini, an Italian politician who serves as High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Although Mogherini did not name Trump in her State of the Union address, she certainly appeared to be referencing the president when she said, "It seems that screaming, shouting, insulting and bullying, systematically destroying and dismantling everything that is already in place, is the mood of our times."

Emphasizing that world leaders must "move on from the 'I win, you lose' approach," because "no country is big enough to face this world alone," Mogherini warned that "this impulse to destroy is not leading us anywhere good."

"It is not solving any of our problems," she added. "The secret of change—and we need change—is to put all energies not in destroying the old, but rather in building the new."

Mogherini's remarks on Friday echoed her comments that directly followed Trump's withdrawal from the Iran deal—officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—earlier this week.

"The nuclear accord belongs to the whole of the international community," she said. "To the Iranian people I say: do not let anyone dismantle this deal, one of the greatest achievements of the international community... the culmination of 12 years of diplomacy."

Mogherini is scheduled to meet with representatives from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how to move forward with the nuclear deal without cooperation from the United States.

The European diplomats will also meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who, in a statement on Friday, reiterated his country's commitment to salvaging the deal while condemning Trump's "ignorance and folly."

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