WASHINGTON
The Pentagon is deploying significant military assets to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier strike group, as the Trump administration signals it is prepared to escalate against Iran amid the regime’s violent crackdown on protesters.
“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday, framing the movement as a precautionary measure.
He has threatened severe military consequences if Iran carries out reported mass executions of detained protesters, claiming such action would make previous U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts.”
However, the president’s threats have fluctuated. He recently asserted—without providing evidence—that Iran had halted plans to execute 800 protesters, an account Tehran’s top prosecutor has denied as “completely false.”
The deployment underscores a high-stakes strategy of military posturing, with the U.S. bolstering its regional force while leaving open the possibility of direct intervention depending on Iran’s next moves.
By James Kisoo
