Divisions over nuclear deal for Iran boil down to more spin than substance

Iran and the US are pitching their potentially historic nuclear accord with narratives that at times appear poles apart, highlighting some of the political and technical gaps that must still be bridged before a final deal in June.

As they defend sensitive concessions in the deal to hardline sceptics at home, both sides are casting the accord with striking differences of emphasis, particularly over how advanced nuclear research is treated and how long constraints will last.

There are few if any outright contradictions in the public statements of officials - a sign of how important a diplomatic breakthrough was made in Lausanne last week after almost two years of hard diplomacy.

Yet statements released by Washington and Tehran hint at some tough choices to come, using contrasting language on sanctions relief and the fate of Iran's uranium stockpile. All sides acknowledge how complicated and fraught it may be to transform the framework document into a final, detailed agreement before a July deadline.

Even if the differences are more spin than substance, the contrast could still prove problematic. For the Obama administration, Iran's statements could also make it more difficult to convince Congress that the deal is good enough to disregard calls for new Iran legislation.

Part of the problem is that the understanding reached, outlined in a document running to almost six pages, remains secret. To the annoyance of the Iranians, the US instead quickly released a four-page "fact sheet" about the agreement, while Iran later published its own separate statement.

The most potentially significant dissonance is over research and development, which was one of the most contentious issues in the talks. Western diplomats fear that if Iran can conduct research on advanced centrifuges during the course of the agreement, then it would quickly be able to establish a substantial nuclear infrastructure after the deal starts to lapse.

According to the US statement, Iran will only be allowed to do "limited" research on advanced centrifuges. However, the Iranian statement says it will "continue its research and development on advanced machines and will continue the initiation and completion phases" of research for four models of advanced centrifuges.

A separate French fact sheet, released on Saturday, gives further detail on Iran's freedom to step-up its enrichment activities after 10 years, potentially using some more advanced centrifuges. Detailed restrictions on this are still under discussion. "It has always been a difficult discussion and there have been unrealistic expectations," said one European official of the incomplete R&D negotiation. "But there will be strict limitations."

The US document states that under the agreement, Iran will reduce its current stockpile of 10 tonnes of enriched uranium to just 300kg. However, the Iranian statement makes no mention of cutting its stockpile and says it would continue with "industrial production".

"The Iranians do not mention that they are going to give up all but 300kg of enriched uranium. The US makes a big deal about this. That is absolutely critical. If they do not do that, then the whole thing kind of falls apart," said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group. "To me there are still a lot of substantive gaps between the two sides."

On the critical issue of sanctions, the US has said any relief will be "phased" while Iran insists it will be up front. Yet statements by Iranian officials have confirmed that sanctions will only be unwound once the final agreement is implemented, not once a deal is signed.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Mohammad Javad Zarif, warned in a television interview on Saturday that some difficult months lie ahead to turn the agreement into a comprehensive deal.

He urged his critics to trust his team and not ask about details of the agreement which he said was still a "rough copy" over which there were "some differences" while "brackets" needed to be inserted. He assured hardliners that Iran would "resist against any over-demanding".

A conservative deputy to the parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi, told the legislative body on Sunday that it was "an achievement" that "the enemies have defined Iran as a member of the world's nuclear club and recognised a complete fuel cycle on the country's soil".

"Today, the government [of Mr Rouhani], the nation and the parliament speak with one voice in the nuclear issue," he said. "The international community should hear one voice from our country and our enemy should see us in one united front."

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