Biggest loser in the invasion of Georgia is Iran. The crisis makes Iran a secondary player to Russo-West relations, pushing Iran down the ladder one step, making a Russian veto of sanctions against Iran and moot point, thereby opening the door to bomb Iran. Iran needs Russia on "almost good terms with USA/EU", not on bad terms. Iran needs Russia to be just one step away from good terms with the west. When it is 8 or 9 or 12 steps away---"what the hell! let them veto any sanctions". Sanctions then become fairly hopeless and the time for negotiations are over---Move the fleet. Move it into place and let the Russians protest in the UN. And the nuclear projects are checked for another 8 to 12 years. If Iran strikes back in any way, take out the one or two or three oil refineries in Iran---and their economy becomes about as primitive as their politics. [Hey, I like that phrase.]

Put another way, Iran is finding out that Russia has its own interests---interests which far exceed creating problems for the USA in the gulf. Soon Iran will be jealous of the attention that Georgia is getting ----and frightened by the silence over its nuclear ambitions.