The New York Times
A ballistic missile fired from Iran was shot down by NATO air and missile defenses in the eastern Mediterranean while heading toward Turkish airspace, Turkey’s defense ministry said on Wednesday.
The missile had flown over Iraq and Syria, according to a ministry statement posted on social media. It did not say what the missile’s target was believed to be. Remnants of the ordnance that shot it down fell in Turkey’s south-central province of Hatay, near the border with Syria, injuring no one, the statement said.
Iran has launched missiles and drones at neighboring countries that host U.S. military facilities and personnel in retaliation for the American and Israeli air campaign against Tehran. Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base hosts a sizable United States Air Force contingent, but Turkey has said that it would not allow its airspace to be used for attacks on Iran.
An attack on Turkey, a NATO member that shares a 300-mile border with Iran, would mark a major escalation and could activate NATO’s mutual defense clause, potentially drawing the alliance’s 32 member states into the war.
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