Former US defense chief: Iran won’t change after deal

Former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the world should not expect Iran to become more moderate in the wake of the nuclear deal.

“The notion that betting that this regime is going to temper its behavior in the region because of this nuclear deal I think is mistaken. I think that will not happen,” Gates says in an interview with Business Insider.

A number of officials in the US and other countries party to the landmark seven-nation nuclear agreement have expressed hopes that the pact could bring Iran closer to the West and open an avenue toward detente, a notion gates dismisses.

“My view is that the belief that Iran over time is going to evolve into a regular nation state and abandon its theological revolutionary underpinnings, its aspirations in the region, or even its aspirations for nuclear weapons is unrealistic,” Gates says.