Turkey verifies interception of third Iranian ballistic missile

Turkey's defence ministry disclosed on Friday that a ballistic missile originating from Iran was intercepted by NATO forces within Turkish airspace, marking the third such incident in the ongoing Middle East conflict.

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This development came after a ministry statement confirmed that "a ballistic munition launched from Iran and entering Turkish airspace was neutralised by NATO air and missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean".

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Sirens blared at the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey, a key NATO facility housing US troops, just hours prior to the ministry's announcement, as reported by the state news agency Anadolu.

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Local media outlets also reported that sirens were heard in Batman, located approximately 600 kilometres east of Incirlik.

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NATO air defences had previously intercepted two ballistic missiles fired from Iran, with the first occurrence on March 4 and the second on Monday.

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Residents of Adana, a city situated near Incirlik, were awoken by sirens at 3:25 am and subsequently posted footage of a fast-moving, fiery object, according to the Ekonomim business news website.

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In a separate incident, sirens sounded in Batman around 4:00 am, with reporters suggesting that the alarm emanated from a military drone base adjacent to the city's airport.

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Monday's incident prompted the US to close its consulate in Adana and advise all American citizens to depart southeastern Turkey.

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied that the missile had been launched from Iran during a phone call with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Since the onset of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, Tehran has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East.

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Incirlik, a crucial NATO facility utilized by US troops for decades, also hosts military personnel from Spain and Poland, as stated on its website.

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US troops are stationed at Kurecik, a base in the central Malatya province, where they operate an early-warning radar system that NATO describes as a "key element" of its missile shield, capable of detecting Iranian missile launches.

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Ankara has categorically denied that radar data has ever been used to assist Israel, but its presence has nonetheless rattled Tehran.

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Turkey announced on Tuesday that a Patriot missile defence system was being deployed in Malatya, just days after NATO moved to strengthen its "alliance-wide ballistic missile defence posture".