Trump threatens Iran 'very hard' over FlyDubai attack — SkimNews
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- Trump said Iran would be hit "very hard" if linked to the Omani copilot who stabbed the Indian captain of a FlyDubai flight carrying 182 people to Tel Aviv, telling reporters at the White House on October 1, 2026.
- The copilot caused the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to plummet from 33,000 to 17,000 feet in about a minute before passengers breached the cockpit, subdued him, and landed the jet in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk; two discreet distress codes ("7700" and "7500") were squawked during the chaos.
- Netanyahu claimed the attacker had undergone "Islamist indoctrination" but told Fox News it was "too early to say" about any Iranian link, noting the Omani suspect exploited a loophole barring pilots from countries without Israeli diplomatic ties.
- Saudi Arabia handed the suspect over to the UAE, where Emirati investigators and Israeli intelligence officials — operating without formal diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Jerusalem — joined the interrogation of the copilot.
- US-Iran diplomatic efforts appeared stalled as Iran received an official US response to its latest war-ending proposal, which Trump had publicly rejected in a Time interview; about 9,000 American troops were dispatched toward West Asia, potentially putting three carriers in the region by late October.
- The incident fell a week before the October 7 anniversary and ahead of Israel's November 3, 2026 election; four American citizens were among the 182 passengers, mostly Israelis.
Why it matters: Trump is publicly floating military escalation against Iran on the basis of an unconfirmed link, even as the US response to Tehran's latest war-ending proposal sits unanswered — raising stakes for the roughly 9,000 additional US troops already heading toward West Asia and for mediators working a deal Trump said he might abandon after the November 3 election.
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