US Navy did not fire missiles from ships in Mediterranean spokesman...

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The US Navy did not fire any missiles from ships in the Mediterranean, a spokesman for the US Navy's European headquarters said on Tuesday.

"No missiles were fired from US ships in the Mediterranean," said the spokesman. He had no further comment on the reported missile activity.

Earlier, Israel said it carried out a test of a missile, used as a target in a US-funded anti-missile system, in the Mediterranean.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said the test was conducted at 9:15 a.m. (0615 GMT) about the same time that Russia's state-run RIA news agency reported that Russian radar had detected the launch of two ballistic "objects" in the Mediterranean.

The ministry added that the test of its Arrow 3 missile-defense system was performed together with the US Defense Department.

The system successfully detected and tracked a medium-range decoy missile that was not carrying a warhead, the ministry said, but did not intercept it. "A successful test was held to check our systems," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said.

"We will continue to develop and research and equip the Israeli military with the best systems in the world."

The state-run Russian news agency RIA cited a source in Damascus as saying two ballistic "objects" that Russia said were launched toward the eastern coast of the Mediterranean on Tuesday fell into the sea.

The Defense Ministry declined immediate comment to Reuters. A ministry official had earlier criticized the United States for deploying warships in the Mediterranean close to Syria.

In Washington, there was no immediate White House comment.

Experts and defense officials said the test had been scheduled weeks ago and was not directly connected to the current tensions in the region.

REUTERS

US Navy did not fire missiles from ships in Mediterranean - spokesman