The United States has built up one of its largest Middle East deployments in years, with two aircraft carriers moving into position and additional warships and aircraft arriving in the region. The State Department has also begun thinning out exposed outposts. Meanwhile, Iran is preparing itself for a protracted war with US. It is dispersing authority, hardening infrastructure, rehearsing retaliation, tightening internal security, and signaling that it can raise global costs through Hormuz and regional targeting.