(I thought I had posted this before, but I don't see it.)

The article says, in addition to its braggadocio that Iran "is also planning to send a satellite into space sometime in the year beginning March 2005, the start of the Iranian calendar." That kind of indicates that the swaggering may be simply that, that they're saying, 'Don' mess with us. We bad guys.' A country that is planning a nuclear strike is probably not actively planning a space exploit. It sounds like Iran is planning to be around for the foreseeable future; they must know that any nuclear activity would invite - and receive - punishing retaliation.

What brucie said above pretty much describes the Cold War, the policy of tit for tat. Whatever its nervous-making moments, it did work.