A third missile fired from Iran was destroyed by NATO in Turkish airspace, the Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Friday.

"A ballistic missile fired from Iran and entering Turkish airspace was neutralized by NATO air and missile defense elements deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean. All necessary measures are being taken firmly against all threats targeting Turkish territory and airspace, and discussions are underway with the country concerned to clarify all aspects of the incident," the ministry stated.

This is the third missile fired from Iran and targeting Turkey since the start of the war in the Middle East.

Two other missiles were intercepted by NATO on Monday and last week.

Sirens were heard overnight at the Incirlik air base used by NATO in the southeastern province of Adana, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported Friday morning in its English edition, without specifying the time or providing further details.

American troops are stationed at the Turkish airbase of Incirlik, as part of NATO.

Residents of Adana, which is 10 kilometers from the base, were woken at 03:25 (00:25 GMT) by sirens that sounded for about five minutes, according to the economic news site Ekonomim.

A flaming object is seen falling into the sky and sirens are heard in several videos shared by internet users on social media.

According to the defense news site SavunmaSanayiST, these objects could be "fragments of a third ballistic missile" or of the interceptor, which burned up upon entering the atmosphere before falling back to the ground.

Local media also reported sirens in Batman, 600 kilometers further east.

Turkey announced on Tuesday that a Patriot air defense system had been deployed in the center of the country, the day after NATO intercepted a second missile fired from Iran.

Washington closed its consulate general in Adana on Monday and urged American citizens to leave the region.

Later that day, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian denied that the missile had been fired from Iran during a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

- Key element -

Since the beginning of the war, Turkey had been relatively spared from the missiles and drones launched by Iran targeting several countries in the region with the aim of striking American interests.

Incirlik Air Base is an important NATO installation, used by US troops for decades, but also hosts military personnel from other countries, including Spain and Poland, according to its official website.

American troops are also stationed at Kurecik, another Turkish base located in the central province of Malatya. This base houses an early warning radar system that NATO describes as a "key element" of its missile defense shield and which can detect Iranian missile launches.

Although Ankara has categorically denied that the data from this radar has ever been used to help Israel, its presence worries Tehran.

NATO destroyed a first missile on March 4, claiming to have detected its launch, confirmed its trajectory and intercepted it "in less than 10 minutes".

The following day, it stated that it had strengthened its ballistic missile defense system "at the alliance level", without providing details.