Iranian: U.S. gives false impression

The reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran on August 21, 2010, is pictured during a ceremony initiating the transfer of Russia-supplied fuel to the facility after more than three decades of delay.

• CNN Exclusive: Iranian official says the White House mischaracterizes nuclear deal


• "You don't need to overemphasize it," Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tells CNN


• The nuclear agreement took effect on Monday


• It calls for Iran to freeze part of its nuclear program in exchange for eased sanctions

(CNN) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted Wednesday that the Obama administration mischaracterizes concessions by his side in the six-month nuclear deal with Iran, telling CNN in an exclusive interview that "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.

As part of the deal, Iran was required to dilute its stockpile of uranium that had been enriched to 20%, well above the 5% level needed for power generation but still below the level for developing a nuclear weapon.

In addition, the deal mandated that Iran halt all enrichment above 5% and "dismantle the technical connections required to enrich above 5%," according to a White House fact sheet issued in November after the initial agreement was reached.

Zarif accused the Obama administration of creating a false impression with such language.

"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 said, urging 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," Zarif said of the White House language.

Iranian and U.S. officials have tried to sell the nuclear agreement to domestic opponents in their respective countries who could scuttle the first major diplomatic achievement involving their countries in more than three decades.

Iranian officials have called the pact a victory and said it failed to halt the nation's nuclear development program, while U.S. officials say the agreement essentially froze Iran's nuclear program and rolled back some capabilities.

CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto reported this story from Davos, Switzerland. It was written by CNN's Tom Cohen in Washington. CNN's Faith Karimi and Reza Sayah contributed to this report.