The Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System Poland at Naval Support Facility at Redzikowo, shown earlier this year, has been declared mission-ready by NATO. (Ashleigh Whitney/U.S. Navy)
NATO air and missile defense systems shot down an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Turkish airspace, Turkey’s ministry of defense said Wednesday.
The missile was detected as it traveled through Iraqi and Syrian airspace and was shot down by NATO air defenses in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the ministry said.
It fell in the Hatay province in southeastern Turkey along the country’s Mediterranean coast, according to the statement. There were no injuries or deaths.
In its statement, the ministry said that while it supports regional stability and peace, it would take all necessary steps to defend its territory and citizens “regardless of who or where the threat comes from.”
The ministry said it would continue to consult NATO and other allies in ensuring conflict in the region did not spread.
There are five U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers currently in the eastern Mediterranean. The region also is patrolled by the multinational Standing NATO Maritime Group 2.
NATO’s missile defense system, which involves a U.S. Aegis Ashore site in Romania and U.S Navy destroyers out of Rota, Spain, was initiated over 15 years ago and developed in phases over time with a ballistic missile threat from Iran in mind. The NATO system includes a missile defense suite in Poland and an early-warning mountaintop radar in Kurecik, Turkey.
This story will be updated.