LIVE: NATO Defenses Intercept Missile Heading Toward Turkey
Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic's Navy, said Guards Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh
Tehran: NATO defense systems have intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran as it headed toward Turkey’s airspace, the Turkish defense ministry said.
A ministry statement said the missile was detected after crossing the Iraqi and Syrian airspace and was intercepted by NATO units stationed in the eastern Mediterranean.
Debris from the missile fell into a district of Hatay province, near the border with Syria. There were no casualties.
“Every step taken to defend our territory and airspace will be taken resolutely and without hesitation,” the defense ministry said. “We remind all parties that we reserve the right to respond to any hostile actions against our country.”
What to know:
- The conflict in the Middle East has now entered its fifth day following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with other key figures in the country. In retaliation, Tehran has launched counter-strikes targeting American military bases and Israeli assets across the region.
- Ayatollah Khamenei's son Mojtaba has been chosen as the successor to his father and will take over as Supreme leader.
- Responding to the development, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that any leader appointed by the Iranian regime to replace Ali Khamenei will be a "target for elimination," reported the Times of Israel.
- Israel expanded its air strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday, targeting the area around the presidential palace near Beirut and other areas south of the capital as well as strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, killing at least 11 people.
-Iranian state television on Wednesday afternoon said the mourning ceremony for Khamenei had been postponed and would be held later after intense strikes targeted Tehran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says a torpedo from a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship.
Turkey "was not a target" of a missile launched from Iran, heading toward Turkish airspace that was destroyed by NATO air-defence systems, a Turkish official told AFP on Wednesday.
NATO on Wednesday condemned Iran's "targeting" of member country Turkey after Ankara said a missile heading towards its airspace had been destroyed by alliance defence systems.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday defended his handling of the US-Israeli air campaign against Iran after President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack over his initial refusal to allow allow the Americans to use UK air bases.
Earlier on Wednesday Israel ordered the evacuation of a swathe of southern Lebanon, including the city of Tyre, telling residents to move north of the Litani River on a third day of full-blown hostilities with the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
An agency of the U.K. military, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, says the ship had a fire in its engine room. It says the vessel was heading east through the Strait of Hormuz when it was hit by an unknown projectile.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has spoken by phone with his Iranian counterpart after an Iranian ballistic missile that was detected heading toward Turkish airspace Wednesday was intercepted.
During the call with Abbas Araghchi, Turkey stressed that “all steps that could escalate the conflict and contribute to its spread” must be avoided, a Turkish official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.
An Iraqi official says a senior Iranian official requested that Iraq take measures to prevent Iranian opposition groups based there from breaching the border.
A statement says Ali Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, made the request in a call with Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji.
Sirens have gone off in Jerusalem and elsewhere for simultaneous launches from Lebanon and Iran.
NATO defense systems have intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran as it headed toward Turkey’s airspace, the Turkish defense ministry said.
A ministry statement said the missile was detected after crossing the Iraqi and Syrian airspace and was intercepted by NATO units stationed in the eastern Mediterranean.
Debris from the missile fell into a district of Hatay province, near the border with Syria. There were no casualties.
“Every step taken to defend our territory and airspace will be taken resolutely and without hesitation,” the defense ministry said. “We remind all parties that we reserve the right to respond to any hostile actions against our country.”