The hope that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif represent a victory for moderation and pragmatism underpinned the Obama administration willingness to cut a deal with the Islamic Republic which, after a decade or so, will allow it to have unfettered access to an industrial-scale nuclear program. Many of the assumptions underlying this narrative are cherry-picked and wrong but that is meaningless to those like Ambassador Thomas Pickering who, to summarize his argument during a World Affairs Council of Philadelphia debate a couple years back, simply insisted, ‘that was then, this is now, and Iran has changed.’

But has Iran turned a corner? A few events of recent days suggest not.

First, consider recent comments by Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani, considered by some Western publications to be ‘moderate’ in which he suggested that many Sunni Islamic states should be considered “enemies of God.” That’s a formulation that is usually applied to those like Salman Rushdie whose assassination or execution the Islamic Republic wishes to bless. In this context, it’s a sign that it’s open season for Iranian-backed terrorists. I’m no apologist for the Saudis — their behavior and policy over the years have been reprehensible — but that is no reason to ignore the fact that the Tehran, sensing the unraveling of U.S.-Saudi ties, is seeking to increase instability rather than be a responsible regional actor.

Then, there is the brouhaha caused by a recent meeting by Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, with Baha’i leader Fariba Kamalabadi.  Former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief condemned the meeting vociferously. He explained, “…Support for false religions is not a dimension of human rights… If someone in Iran establishes a relationship with false religions, it is political.” And Ayatollah Gholam Ali Safaei Bushehri, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in Bushehr province, called the meeting equivalent to “conformity with international Zionism.” So, there should be no human rights for “false religions?” How ironic that the White House deems Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps an ally in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) when, in effect, it is simply its mirror.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is not a pragmatic state, at least on the issues which are of most concern to the United States and its regional allies. Rather, it is an ideological state. Until U.S. policymakers recognize just how deep that ideology permeates into the decision-making process across the Iranian political spectrum, then the falsity of Secretary of State John Kerry’s fantasy is only going to be exposed with even more shocking violence.