“I am particularly worried by the announcement tonight of new sanctions,” Mogherini said.
“The European Union is determined to preserve it,” she said of the world powers’ 2015 agreement with Tehran. “Together with the rest of the international community, we will preserve this nuclear deal.”
The comments by the EU official came after US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Washington is quitting the Iran nuclear deal.
The decision will pit him against the United States' closest allies.
"I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said from the White House.
Repeating the baseless accusation that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons despite the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) repeated verification of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities, Trump said, "It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and cotton structure of the current agreement."
"The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing we know exactly what will happen."
In announcing his decision, Trump will initiate new sanctions to go forward, crippling the touchstone agreement negotiated by his predecessor.