Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged world powers on Tuesday (March 4) not to allow Iran to retain the ability to enrich uranium, saying it must be stripped of all nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential.

"Unfortunately the leading powers of the world are talking about leaving Iran with the capability to enrich uranium. I hope they don't do that, because that would be a grave error. It would leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power," he told the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC in Washington.

He called for international diplomatic pressure on Tehran to be ramped up and, alluding to unilateral military action against Iran, said he would do whatever he must to defend Israel.