Iran Denies Firing Missile Toward Turkey, Citing Respect for Sovereignty

Tehran. Iran's military has claimed that it did not fire any missile toward Turkey. Iran issued this response after Turkey stated on Wednesday that its NATO air defense system shot down a missile allegedly launched from Iran.

According to Fars, a news agency close to the Iranian government, the headquarters of the Iranian armed forces issued a statement affirming respect for Turkey's sovereignty and friendly relations, stating that no missile was fired toward Turkish territory.

Turkish officials, however, had stated that the missile was launched from Iran, advanced toward Turkey via Iraqi and Syrian airspace, and was destroyed before entering Turkish airspace.

This is possibly the first incident where NATO forces intercepted a missile heading toward a member state from Iran following the conflict that began in the Middle East last week.