Trump threatens military action as Iran-US tensions escalate over 'painful strikes'

At a moment when words carry the weight of missiles, Washington and Tehran have exchanged explicit threats of military force, each invoking the language of inevitability rather than caution. President Trump publicly mused about authorizing a full-scale strike against Iran, while Iranian officials warned of painful retaliation and pointed to their grip on the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint through which much of the world's oil flows. What is unfolding is not merely a diplomatic standoff but a public rehearsal for war, in which both nations appear to be conditioning their populations, their all