Russian Missiles 'Hit the Wrong Country'

Nonsense, Moscow says on Facebook
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 9, 2015 1:43 AM CDT
Russian Missiles 'Hit the Wrong Country'
In this photo made from footage taken from the Russian Defense Ministry's official website on Wednesday, a Russian navy ship launches a cruise missile in the Caspian Sea.   (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russian cruise missiles fired from vessels in the Caspian Sea crashed in Iran instead of hitting their targets in Syria, according to CNN—but if they did, Iran is staying pretty quiet about it. US military monitors determined that at least four of Russia's new "Kaliber" missiles crashed in Iran, and intelligence agencies believe buildings were damaged and people were injured, CNN reports. Russia's Defense Ministry firmly denied the report, saying in a Facebook post that its missiles hit ISIS targets in Syria. The ministry said that while CNN is quoting anonymous sources, Russia shows its missile launches "almost in real time" and has drones operating in Syria around the clock to determine whether they hit their targets.

Iran's FARS news agency says defense officials deny that any cruise missiles crashed in the country, per CNN. State-owned PressTV described reports of missile crashes as a "US psychological operation" and interviewed an anti-Semitic Texas podcaster who denounced "Zionist corporate media" in the West. Iran's IRNA news agency, however, reported the day the missiles were fired that an "unknown flying object" had crashed in a village called Ghozghapan, which is believed to be under the missiles' flight path to Syria, the BBC reports. (In airspace over Syria, things are getting tense between the US and Russia.)

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