Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.
ANKARA — A ballistic missile fired from Iran entered Turkish airspace on Monday and was shot down by NATO defenses, Ankara said, in the fourth such incident reported since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
There was no immediate comment from Tehran which has denied specifically targeting its neighbour Turkey during the conflict and has said it was not involved in the previous three missile launches, which were all downed by NATO defenses.
NATO’s spokesperson said the alliance intercepted an Iranian missile heading towards its member country Turkey, adding that it was “prepared for such threats and will always do what is necessary to defend all Allies.”
Iran has fired missiles at countries across the Middle East since the start of the conflict, striking oil infrastructure and bases with US forces in the region.
Turkey’s defense ministry did not say where it thought the missile was heading on Monday.
Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in the southern Adana province hosts US, Turkish, Polish, Qatari and other personnel.
US personnel are also stationed at NATO’s Kurecik radar station in Turkey’s southeastern Malatya province where the alliance recently deployed a Patriot missile defense system.
Separately, Turkey’s Chief of the General Staff, General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, held a video conference with NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone on Monday, to discuss regional defense and security issues, the defense ministry said.
The ministry said all necessary measures were being taken “decisively and without hesitation” against any threat directed at Turkey’s territory and airspace.
The incident comes after talks in Islamabad at the weekend between the top diplomats of Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia on potential ways to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.
Turkey had offered and tried to mediate between Iran and the United States before the war started at the end of last month.
Ankara has repeatedly called for an end to the conflict, criticized the US-Israeli attacks as illegal, and described Iran’s attacks on regional countries as unacceptable. — Reuters
