Iran - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif:‘We did not agree to dismantle anything’

Iran - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif: ‘We did not agree to dismantle anything’.(Ynet).

Mohammad Zarif says Tehran capable of returning to former capacity, blames White House for painting misleading picture of six-month agreement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that terminology used by the White House to describe the Geneva deal differed from the text agreed to by Iran and the other six countries in the talks — the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.

During the Wednesday exclusive interview with CNN, Zarif said the Obama administration mischaracterizes concessions by his side in the six-month nuclear deal with Iran, stressing “we did not agree to dismantle anything.”

“The White House version both underplays the concessions and overplays Iranian commitments under the agreement that took effect Monday,” Zarif said in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum.

Zarif reiterated that the Obama administration is creating a false impression with such language.

He told CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto, “The White House tries to portray it as basically a dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program. That is the word they use time and again.”

He then urged Sciutto to read the actual text of the agreement. “If you find a single, a single word, that even closely resembles dismantling or could be defined as dismantling in the entire text, then I would take back my comment.”

He repeated that “we are not dismantling any centrifuges, we’re not dismantling any equipment, we’re simply not producing, not enriching over 5%. You don’t need to over-emphasize it.”

“All of us are facing difficulties and oppositions and concerns and misgivings,” he said, noting he had been summoned Wednesday to Iran’s parliament to answer questions.

Asked about his talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Zarif called it “very difficult because we’re both going into these negotiations with a lot of baggage.”

“Progress has been made,” he said, “but it’s yet too early to talk about trust.”

The P5+1 and Iran struck a historic deal on Tehran’s nuclear program at talks in Geneva in November 2013. Under the interim agreement, Tehran will be allowed access to $4.2 billion in funds frozen as part of the financial sanctions imposed on Iran. For its part, Iran promised to curb the level of enriching uranium to 5 percent.

Zarif's harsh words are coming in response to President Barack Obama's statement a week and a half ago.

"Beginning January 20th, Iran will for the first time start eliminating its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium and dismantling some of the infrastructure that makes such enrichment possible," he said.

"Iran has agreed to limit its enrichment capability by not installing or starting up additional centrifuges or using next-generation centrifuges. New and more frequent inspections of Iran's nuclear sites will allow the world to verify that Iran is keeping its commitments."

Obama made the statement to try to convince Congress not to put any more sanctions on Iran, which would cause the deal to cave in.Hmmm......Would this president lie?