Turkey’s National Defense Ministry has announced that a ballistic missile launched by Iran was intercepted today in Turkey’s airspace by NATO defense installations in the eastern Mediterranean.
Sirens blared in the southern Adana province earlier today, according to footage circulated on social media. The İncirlik Air Base, which hosts US and NATO forces, is located in Adana.
This marks the third such incident since the start of the war between the US-Israel alliance and Iran on Feb 28. Previously, NATO systems shot down missiles on Mar 4 and Mar 9.
After the first two attacks, a Patriot air defense system was installed in the southeastern province of Malatya, where the Kürecik Radar Station, operated by NATO, is located.
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“All necessary measures are being taken decisively and without hesitation against any threat directed at our country’s territory and airspace,” said the ministry . “Consultations are being conducted with the relevant country to clarify all aspects of the incident.”
Iran, which has launched missile and drone barrages on Israel and US assets in the region in retaliation for these two countries' air campaign against it, previously denied targeting Turkey, describing the incidents as possible false flag attacks.
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Ankara has been critical of Iran's tactics to widen the conflict by targeting the countries hosting US assets, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan describing such actions as an "extremely wrong strategy."
“When [Iran] assesses that it is facing an existential attack, it adopts the strategy of ‘If I go down, I will take the region down with me,’ targeting other countries in the region, particularly energy infrastructure,” Fidan said during an interview with TRT on Mar 3.
“Iran knows very well how important the energy infrastructure in critical countries of the region is for the global economy, stability, and energy security. It is carrying out attacks on these targets.”
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