The Pentagon has extended the deployment of the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East so the ship can help defend Israel and protect U.S. citizens and forces in the region.

By Alexander Ward The U.S. has beefed up its forces in the Mideast to deter countries such as Iran from getting involved and to be prepared to respond to any escalation. The Pentagon has said it would keep the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and its accompanying ships near the Red Sea.

Iran fired at least 100 missiles at Israel on Tuesday night and some were shot down by American forces in the region, a U.S. defense official said. The Pentagon is still determining the details of the U.

This is the second time since April that US destroyers have responded to a direct Iranian attack against Israel.

Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea fired a dozen missiles Tuesday to help Israel defend itself from an Iranian barrage, but no San Diego-based ships were involved in the fighting.