Mogherini:

Trump's Jerusalem Move to Send Region Backwards

TEHRAN (defapress) - US President Donald Trump's decision to officially recognize Jerusalem (al-Quds) as the Israeli capital could take the region "backwards to even darker times", the EU's diplomatic chief warned on Thursday.

News ID: 67300

Date: 07 December 2017 - 16:34

"President Trump's announcement on Jerusalem (al-Quds) has a very worrying potential impact. It is a very fragile context and the announcement has the potential to send us backwards to even darker times than the ones we're already living in," Federica Mogherini told a press conference in Brussels, Daily Sabah reported.

"The European Union has a clear and united position. We believe the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states and with Jerusalem (al-Quds) as the capital of both," she said.

The issue is likely to dominate a breakfast meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and EU foreign ministers on Monday, she added.

US President Donald Trump officially declared the disputed city of al-Quds Israel's capital, despite warnings from around the world that the measure risks triggering a fresh wave of violence in the Middle East.

In a speech at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said his administration would also begin a years-long process of moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to the holy city.

The announcement was a major shift by Washington that overturns decades of US foreign policy.

Palestinian leaders had previously warned the move would threaten a two-state solution.

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 Middle East war. It annexed the area in 1980 and sees it as its exclusive domain. Under international law, the area is considered to be occupied territory.