As U.S. carriers and fighter jets surge across the Gulf and Mediterranean, Iran’s IRGC Navy flagship Shahid Mahdavi has returned from a 57-day deployment that stretched to the Atlantic and BRICS drills off South Africa. Iranian media portray the voyage as proof Tehran can project power far beyond its shores. The floating drone-and-missile base re-enters the regional chessboard just as American air power expands in Jordan. Could this oceangoing platform shadow tankers, trail carrier groups or alter calculations in a potential clash?