Iran’s FM: We Did Not Agree to Dismantle Anything

Zarif told CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto that terminology used by the White House to describe the agreement differed from the text agreed to by Iran and the other countries in the talks -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.

"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.

"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," Zarif said.

Urging reference to the actual text of the Geneva agreement, dubbed the Joint Plan of Action, the top Iranian diplomat further emphasized, "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."

Charging the Obama administration with seeking to paint an untrue picture of Iran’s obligations under the interim nuclear deal, Zarif reiterated that "we are not dismantling any centrifuges, we're not dismantling any equipment, we're simply not producing, not enriching over five percent."

As part of the interim deal sealed between the two sides in November 2013, the Islamic Republic has agreed to limit its nuclear enrichment to five percent.