Nuclear Nationalism

Speaking of Lithuanian nationalism, this news about Lithuanian nuclear power and Russian missiles reminds me of a cogent assessment about nuclear power that my long-time friend and occasional collaborator, Patrick O'Neil, made. He noted that to build or not build a nuclear power program may be about energy, but also is often about national identity. If asserting the ability to build, or the technical capacity to run, or the energy independence won, OR the technical separation from the former patron's nuclear program can make a country feel autonomous and sovereign, then that country will factor this political aspect into its nuclear decision. The Baltics long felt the pangs of independence, now they are at the business of dealing with some of the pains of independence. Though they may be independent of Russia, it seems like annoying the Russians must be done delicately. After all, missiles in Kaliningrad is more a signal to the Baltic states than the United States.
Nuclear power, natioanlism, sovereignty, and security are bound up in confusing (to me as an American) and seemingly intractable ways.

What light does this shed on Iran's nuclear power program? Is there any possibility that they want to use nuclear energy as signifier of their status and capability, even without building weapons?