Iran denies firing missile towards Turkiye after NATO interception

⁠Iran’s ⁠Armed Forces have denied firing ⁠any missile towards Turkish territory, insisting that Iran respects the sovereignty of Turkiye, they said in a statement ‌carried by state media.

The Iranian statement on Thursday comes after Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defence said on Wednesday that a ⁠ballistic missile fired from ⁠Iran towards Turkish airspace after ⁠passing Syria and Iraq ⁠was destroyed ⁠by NATO air and missile defence systems over ‌the eastern Mediterranean

It was not clear where the missile was aimed.

“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.

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.

In an evening address to the nation, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country was “taking all the necessary precautions” in consultation with its NATO allies and was issuing “warnings in the clearest terms to prevent similar incidents from happening again”.

“If we, as a nation, want to live in peace and tranquillity… we must constantly increase our deterrent capabilities. In these difficult times … we are leaving absolutely nothing to chance regarding the security of our borders and airspace,” he said.

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan on Wednesday conveyed in a call to his Iranian ⁠counterpart Ankara’s protest, the Reuters news agency reported.

NATO ⁠condemned Iran’s targeting of Turkiye, spokesperson ⁠Allison Hart said, adding that the organisation “stands firmly with ‌all Allies, including Turkiye”.

“Our deterrence ⁠and defence posture remains strong across ⁠all domains, including when ⁠it comes ⁠to air and missile defence,” Hart ‌said.

United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was “no sense” that the destruction of the ballistic missile would trigger NATO’s Article 5 clause, which outlines that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all members.

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) attacks from 2014.