Turkiye says NATO bringing in more defences after missile interceptions

NATO to deploy a new Patriot missile defence unit to southern Turkiye’s Incirlik Air Base.

Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defence has said NATO is sending another Patriot missile defence unit to its Incirlik Air Base, after several ballistic missiles Ankara says were fired by Iran were downed heading towards or in Turkish airspace.

Tehran has denied firing any missiles at Turkiye, suggesting Israel could be behind them as acts of sabotage.

The ministry announced the new missile battery during a Wednesday briefing at the Incirlik base, located near the southern city of Adana, saying it would complement “national-level measures … to ensure the security of our airspace and our citizens”.

The ministry did not say which country’s troops would operate the PAC-3 system, an advanced Patriot surface-to-air unit designed to intercept ballistic and cruise missiles. Incirlik hosts personnel from the United States, Qatar, Spain and Poland, as well as Turkish troops.

The move comes five days after Turkiye said another ballistic missile from Iran was intercepted by NATO forces, the third such incident since the war in Iran broke out.

NATO air defences shot down the first ballistic missile fired at Turkiye on March 4, followed by the shooting down of a second missile on March 9.

Ankara, NATO’s second-largest army and Iran’s neighbour, has warned Tehran against any more attacks and said it has the “right to respond to any hostile action”. However, it has not indicated it wants to formally call on members of the alliance for protection.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara was addressing discrepancies in Iran’s denial and blame on Israel. “Of course, there is technical data available … and we are discussing the discrepancy between their [Iranian officials’] statements and the reality with them,” Fidan said after speaking with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Saturday.

After the second interception on March 9, NATO also deployed Patriot defences in the central Malatya region, where the Kurecik airbase is located, which houses a NATO early-warning radar system manned by US troops that can detect Iranian missile launches.