Tensions in the Middle East are entering a dangerous new phase as Iran issues its clearest warning yet to the United States. With the USS Abraham Lincoln operating near Iranian waters, Tehran has launched live-fire naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz and vowed a swift, powerful response to any attack. Iran’s foreign minister says the country no longer needs proxies and is fully prepared for confrontation. As Trump threatens a “far worse” strike, analysts warn the drills, drone swarms, and missile deployments could turn the region’s most vital chokepoint into a flashpoint.