Wouldn't it make sense for Iran to try and purchase a nuke, a small fellow, couple a megatons or something, and then 'test' it in the desert as if they were testing one they had developed themselves? To outsiders it would simply look like they had joined the club a little sooner than was expected and would certainly seem to render any military intervention by Israel or the US pointless, futile and dangerously provocative. Iran could then continue on with its program undisturbed, at least undisturbed relative to what a military intervention would look like.
I mean, I'm assuming Iran's greatest concern is will they be able develop a bomb before the West gets around to doing something about it - or before Israel feels it has no choice but to act. An explosion that has all the appearance of demonstrating they've acquired the technology puts an end to that risk. Seems so obvious I almost have to believe they've looked into it.
And to take it a step further - is it preposterous to speculate that maybe it's in Russia's interests to sell such a bomb, little half megaton fella, to Iran for this exact purpose? Possibly a stretch, but definitely plausible, no?
