The Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey hosts a sizable US Air Force contingent, but Turkey has said that it would not allow its airspace to be used for attacks on Iran, reports The New York Times.

Iran’s military denied on Thursday that it fired a ballistic missile toward Turkey, after the Turkish defense ministry said NATO defenses in the Mediterranean had intercepted the missile.

Turkey’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that the missile was detected to have been launched from Iran, directed toward Turkish airspace, and flew over Iraq and Syria.

A senior US military official and a Western official said it was aimed at the Incirlik Air Base.

Both officials said the Iranian missile was shot down by an interceptor missile fired from a US warship in the eastern Mediterranean. The senior US official added that it had been shot down shortly before midnight Eastern Standard Time Tuesday by an SM-3 interceptor launched from the USS Oscar Austin.

Remnants of the interceptor fell in Turkey’s south-central province of Hatay, near the border with Syria, injuring no one, the Turkish ministry statement said.

An attack on Turkey, which shares a 300-mile border with Iran, would mark a major escalation and could activate NATO’s mutual defense clause, potentially drawing the alliance’s 32 member states into the war.

In a statement, Allison Hart, a NATO spokeswoman, said the alliance condemned the targeting of Turkey.

“NATO stands firmly with all allies, including Turkey, as Iran continues its indiscriminate attacks across the region,” the statement said. “Our deterrence and defense posture remains strong across all domains, including when it comes to air and missile defense.”

A strike on Turkey could also alter Turkey’s relationship with Iran. The two countries have longstanding diplomatic and trade relations, and Turkey was heavily involved in recent diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing the current war, added The New York Times.