Trump threatens Iran over FlyDubai copilot attack — SkimNews
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- Trump warned Iran would be hit "very hard" if linked to the FlyDubai copilot who stabbed his captain and tried to crash a UAE-to-Israel flight carrying 182 people, including four American citizens
- The copilot, an Omani citizen, stabbed Indian Captain Smit Machchhar, causing the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to plummet from 33,000 to 17,000 feet in about a minute before passengers and off-duty crew trainees intervened and landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
- Netanyahu claimed the attacker underwent "Islamist indoctrination" and said the copilot exploited a loophole in Israeli aviation rules barring pilots from countries without diplomatic ties with Israel — Oman has none; when asked who radicalized the suspect, Netanyahu told Fox News he did not know
- The U.S. military dispatched approximately 9,000 troops aboard ships to West Asia, potentially putting three carriers in the region as soon as late October, according to a U.S. official speaking anonymously to AP
- Trump told Time he would not accept Iran proposals he "wouldn't have approved a year ago" and left open resuming bombing after the November 3, 2026 U.S. election, as mediators reported stalled diplomatic efforts to end the seven-month war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz
- Someone in the cockpit discreetly transmitted two four-digit squawk codes — 7700 (general emergency) and 7500 (unlawful interference) — as the plane flew erratically near the Jordanian-Saudi border, per Flightradar24
Why it matters: Trump is publicly conditioning a potential military strike on Iran on an unconfirmed link to the FlyDubai incident, with 9,000 U.S. troops already deploying toward the region and the November 3 U.S. election setting a clear timeline for any resumed bombing campaign. The investigation spans Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, and Oman, and any confirmed Tehran connection — even via an Omani intermediary — would meet Trump's stated threshold for escalation.
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