re: "Political theater"
We aren't dealing with the Soviet Union, which for all it faults, was run by old men who wanted to die quietly in their beds, and liked the status quo. This makes a difference when diplomacy and brinkmanship are used.
In Iran, we may be dealing with someone who just might think that a million of his own people dying in atomic hell would be a fair price to pay for the destruction of his enemies. We are seeing this kind of thinking constantly in that part of the world on smaller scales, and I take it seriously.