Iran has denied attacking Turkey after a ballistic missile entered the Nato country’s airspace, threatening to further spread the conflict beyond the Middle East.
Nato air defences destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile that was fired towards the country on Wednesday, marking the first time the alliance member bordering Asia has been drawn into the conflict and raising the possibility of a major expansion of the war.
The Iranian Armed Forces General Staff denied firing missiles at Turkey on Thursday, saying the Islamic Republic respected the sovereignty of Turkey, according to a statement carried by Iranian media.
As the Iran war enters its sixth day, countries across the Gulf have been attacked as Tehran retaliates against US and Israeli airstrikes which began on Saturday.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan that attacks on Turkey's territory are unacceptable.
He then pledged full US support after the missile headed toward the country was shot down, the State Department said Wednesday.
The war has spread far beyond the Middle East, with the US announcing on Wednesday that one of its submarines had struck an Iranian warship in Sri Lanka.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Operation Epic Fury had “only just begun” as he confirmed that a US Navy submarine had destroyed the IRIS Dena, an Iranian frigate, off the Sri Lankan coast.
Sri Lankan authorities have said that at least 80 people were killed in the torpedo attack on the frigate, which had 180 people on board.
Hegseth said: “An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”
Sri Lanka’s cabinet spokesperson said it was trying to "safeguard lives" on another Iranian ship off its coast, adding that the vessel was in the economic zone beyond the South Asian island nation's territorial waters.
"We are doing our utmost to safeguard lives," spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa said.
Iran launched more missiles at Israel and US bases in the Middle East on Thursday, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they struck a US tanker in the northern part of the gulf, according to state media.
There was no immediate confirmation by the US of the incident, which mirrored a similar attack that Iran claimed earlier this week.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC said passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be under the control of the Islamic Republic - a development that could severely disrupt the global supply of oil.
US Centcom claimed to have destroyed 17 ships in Iran’s naval fleet as of Tuesday.
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