NATO defences destroy missile fired from Iran over Mediterranean: Turkiye

Defence Ministry says missile destroyed as it approached Turkish airspace after crossing Iraq and Syria.

A ⁠ballistic ⁠missile fired from Iran and heading into ⁠Turkish airspace after passing over Syria and Iraq ⁠has been destroyed by NATO air defence systems, the Turkish Ministry of Defence says.

“A ballistic munition launched from Iran, which was detected passing through Iraqi and Syrian airspace and heading towards Turkish airspace, was engaged in a timely manner by NATO air and missile defence assets stationed in the eastern Mediterranean and rendered inactive,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

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It said there were no ⁠casualties or injuries, adding that Ankara ⁠reserves the right to respond ⁠to any ⁠hostile actions against it while warning parties to refrain ‌from escalating the conflict.

Incirlik Air Base in Turkiye is used by foreign military forces, primarily the US and other NATO allies. The base is under the control of the Turkish air force but operates as a joint Turkish-US airbase.

Incirlik was a critical logistics and air support location for US-led operations in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War and later as a cargo hub for Iraq and Afghanistan operations.

Turkiye denied the US permission to use it for the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, but it was heavily used for anti-ISIL (ISIS) strikes from 2014.