You are right, I can't imagine the cowardly mullahs taking on the Israelis head-on. They fear and loathe Sharon especially, but there is enormous respect from the average Iranian citizen as to the capabilities of the Jewish state. My fater-in-law lives in Iran and my husband and I visited there a short while ago. There were the ubiquitous signs denouncing the "Zionist Entity" but I found the people to be in awe of the power and capablities of the Israelis. Many had fond memories of a Jewish doctor in my husband's home town that everyone went to because he was the best. Hezbollah toughs threw a Molotov cocktail at his house so he fled the country. They weren't sure if he had gone to Israel or America. My father-in-law likes Sharon because he admires his toughness and courage. Sharon also makes the mullahs pee in their dresses. I believe this Rowhani guy is all bluster and is bluffing with a pair of twos. There is no way the Iranians will take on the vaunted, even mythologically fearsome Israeli war machine. They aren't man enough. They can only terrorize and torture unarmed kids or pay psycho Palestinian terrorists to do their dirty work for them.
This is true but many in the Iranian gov believe that they can cripple Israel with a first strike and withstand a counter barrage. This is the scary part. If this country is allowed to develop nukes we are in big trouble.