U.S. military assets going to the Middle East

WASHINGTON— The Pentagon has been sending U.S. military assets into the Middle East this week, including an aircraft carrier group and its thousands of troops, as U.S. President Donald Trump indicates he is maintaining the possibility of strikes on Iran amid its crackdown on protests. “We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump told reporters Thursday, saying they were going “just in case.” Trump has threatened military action if Iran carried out mass executions of prisoners or killed peaceful demonstrators, but he recently backed away, claiming Iran halted the hangings…