It has already backfired on Iran. Their equivocation about the release of Faye Turney has hurt then not only with the international community--and although some might say Iran cares only for the good-will of its Middle East neighbours, they cannot really afford to be isolationist--but also with its own people, many of whom have said that it was wrong.

There seems to be a three-way power struggle IN Iran: Revolutionary Guard, clerics and Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad has been criticized lately for his trips abroad, and Iran's weakening economy--not due really to lack of money, but due to poor administration OF that money--has caused a growing unrest amongst the Iranian people. I guess ya can't spend all that money on nuclear production, have nothing to show for it, and be able to tell Iranians that you're doing something good for them. Tough tightrope to walk.