Iranian Thinking

* If you don't have weapons of mass destruction, like Iraq, you will be attacked by the United States and your population will suffer incredibly.
* If you do have weapons of mass destruction, like North Korea, yo can do whatever the fuck you want and the United States will largely ignore you. If you test long range missiles they will beef up their attempts to create some defense. Being friends with China helps, so Iran is trying to be friends with Russia.
* If you use traditional fossil fuels you will add your demands to those of China in a global market which is under pressure and when the prices skyrocket you cant compete and ruin your own economy.
* If you have nuclear powerplants you can export a lot more oil, sell it to China and boost your economy.
* In the light of climate change and global warning Nuclear energy is more and more being promoted as an alternative (which I happen to think is full blown idiocy, but that's not the point here) so obtaining nuclear energy is for the sake of the planet, while fossil fuels are not.

Some say nuclear energy is for the biggest part a marketing and public relations strategy to sell the bomb. It's not that effective, after all. The position of the United States regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions is either prooving that point or beyond all logic. Let them have their nuclear energy, make sure they don't make weapons or better, don't even want to make them for lack of need, which means the USA must abort it's aggressive stance. As far as I understand it the Iranians are quite willing to enter deals with for instance Russia about the fuel, they say to support the non proliferiation treaty, and they even seem to allow for inspections. As long as their basic rights as a nation to develop these technologies is not questioned but the West still is trying to dictate what autonomous countries can and connot strive for.
Best way would be to start talking, instead of throwing veiled threats to and fro, but that seems to be impossible for the likes of Bush &Co