Israel opposes Iran nuclear draft plan

JERUSALEM (CNN) - Iran must stop enriching uranium completely - not simply take it abroad, said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday, in Israel's first response to a draft agreement that would allow Iran to send its uranium to Russia and France for enrichment.

Delegations from Iran, France, Russia, the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency - the United Nation's nuclear watchdog group - met in Vienna this week to work out details of a tentative deal reached in early October. The deal calls for low-enriched uranium produced in Iran to be sent abroad for further enrichment and then returned for use in medical research and treatment.

"I repeat that the cessation of enrichment by Iran is needed and not just the removal of the enriched material," said Barak at the closing ceremony of the Shimon Peres Presidential Conference in Jerusalem. "If they don't stop the enrichment, then the only consequence will be that Iran has received legitimacy to enrich on its soil for civilian purposes, in clear opposition to the understanding of the parties dealing with it and their understanding of the real program: to reach nuclear capability."