The USS George HW Bush has been sent to the Gulf by the US along with two other military vessels Continue reading the main story Washington is considering direct talks with Iran on the security situation in Iraq, a US official has told the BBC. The move comes as US President Barack Obama weighs up options on action to take in Iraq. Meanwhile, the US condemned as “horrifying” photos posted online by Sunni militants that appear to show fighters massacring Iraqi soldiers. In the scenes, the soldiers are shown being led away and lying in trenches before and after their “execution”. The Iraqi military said the pictures were real, but their authenticity has not been independently confirmed. The BBC’s Jim Muir, in northern Iraq, says if the photographs are genuine, it would be by far the biggest single […]