NATO said Thursday it has strengthened its "ballistic missile defence posture" as Iran steps up its strikes across the Middle East with a missile launched at alliance-member Turkey before being shot down."Yesterday... NATO increased its alliance-wide ballistic missile defence posture," alliance spokesman Colonel Martin O'Donnell said in a statement shared on social media.
The alliance's 32 member states concurred with NATO commanders during an ambassador-level meeting that the posture should remain at its "heightened level" until the threat from Iran's "indiscriminate attacks across the region" subsided, the spokesman said.
Details about the posture change could not be given for operational security reasons, O'Donnell added.
The spokesman confirmed however that the move came the same day as a "successful" NATO interception of a missile targeting Turkey.
"In less than 10 minutes, NATO service members identified a threat to Allies, a ballistic missile, confirmed its trajectory, alerted land- and sea-based missile defence systems, and launched an interceptor to defeat the threat," he said.
Allies meeting in Brussels "again condemned Iran's targeting of Turkiye", the statement said, using the country's official name.
Iran's retaliatory strikes to US-Israeli attacks have seen missiles and drones strike cities and infrastructure across the Middle East.
Turkey's defence ministry has said NATO's defence systems intercepted and neutralised "a ballistic missile fired from Iran and detected heading towards Turkey", but added no further details.
NATO's assertion that the missile was "targeting" Turkey contradicts a claim by a Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, that it had been "aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered off course".
O'Donnell declined to provide further details on the missile's target, citing security concerns.
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