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.Published On 4 Mar 2026A ⁠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 National Defence says.It was not clear where the missile was aimed.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Will the US put ‘boots on the ground’ in Iran?list 2 of 3Iran postpones Khamenei’s farewell as Israel threatens to kill successorlist 3 of 3Hundreds of drones target Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE amid Iran warend of list“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.Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan conveyed in a call to his Iranian ⁠counterpart Ankara’s protest over ⁠a ballistic missile fired from Iran and heading towards ‌Turkish airspace, the Reuters news agency reported.During the call, Fidan also told Iranian Foreign ⁠Minister Abbas Araghchi ⁠that any ⁠steps that could further widen the conflict ‌must be avoided, Reuters added.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 Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that 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.