As the conflict between Iran and the United States deepens into its second year, Tehran has undergone a quiet but consequential transformation — from a nation managing risk to one that believes it can impose it. US intelligence now assesses that Iran, emboldened by perceived military parity and American munition constraints, is preparing a more aggressive phase of confrontation that extends from the Strait of Hormuz into the digital infrastructure of American daily life. What makes this moment distinct is not merely the threat of escalation, but the deliberate timing of it — Iranian leaders ap