[Ha'aretz] Responding to an internationally-backed draft plan that calls for Tehran to ship its uranium abroad for enrichment, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday in Jerusalem: "The cessation of enrichment by Iran is needed, and not just the removal of the enriched material...and a short and limited time for discussion is needed." "This agreement - if it is ever signed - will manage to turn back the accumulation of the enriched material in Iran by about a year." He added that if Iran did not stop the enrichment, the only consequence of the agreement would be that the Islamic Republic would have received legitimacy for enriching uranium on its soil. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio Wednesday: "This proves how important international pressure is....Iran is more susceptible to pressure than we may believe." World powers need to keep pressure on Tehran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapon capabilities, he added.
2009-10-23 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive