VIENNA — Russia and the West overcame differences to strike a landmark nuclear deal with Iran but are now divided on how well the UN atomic agency is reporting on whether Tehran is meeting its commitments. Western nations want more details, while Moscow opposes their push.
Because the United States and its five negotiating partners want to avoid conflicts that could complicate Iranian compliance of a deal that was years in the making, their differences are mostly playing out behind the scenes.
Vladimir Voronkov, Moscow’s chief delegate to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, which is monitoring the deal, acknowledges there is a dispute that could affect the amount of information made public about Iran’s nuclear program in the future.
‘‘In our view, it’s an absolutely balanced document,’’ Voronkov said ahead of a discussion of the latest IAEA report on Iran by the agency’s 35-nation board rescheduled to Wednesday from Tuesday. ‘‘But some of our colleagues would like to have more details.’’
The United States, Britain, France, and Germany negotiated the deal with Iran, along with Russia and China, and all six countries will continue to have much deeper insight into whether Iran is upholding its side of the agreement than what the IAEA reports to other nations on its board.
But Voronkov said that diplomats from some of those Western countries believe the Feb. 26 IAEA report was too superficial to provide the broader view they feel is needed to show Iran that the world was watching.
Voronkov didn’t specify which Western countries he meant, but another diplomat from one of the six nations that negotiated the deal said the United States was among those preferring more details than the report contained.
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby played down the issue, saying the United States is ‘‘confident that the deal puts in place the tools and reporting requirements for the IAEA to do their job.’’
Under the deal, Iran agreed to restrict the number of centrifuges used to make enriched uranium, material that can power reactors or be used for the core of a nuclear weapon, depending on its level of enrichment. It also pledged to crimp work on advanced centrifuges and get rid of most of its enriched uranium stockpile.
Critics say that the report falls short on particulars on these issues.
‘‘The report does not list inventories of nuclear materials and equipment or the status of key sites and facilities,’’ said IAEA’s former deputy director general, Olli Heinonen.
‘‘Without detailed reporting, the international community cannot be sure that Iran is upholding its commitments under the nuclear deal,’’ he said.
Amano pushed back Tuesday, saying his reporting on Iran will continue to be ‘‘factual, impartial and include the information which the agency considers necessary.’’
