President Donald Trump said Thursday, October 1, that Iran would be struck "very hard" if investigators establish a link between Tehran and the cockpit attack on FlyDubai flight FZ1073 — the first time he has tied the mid-air drama to Iran, even as the investigation is far from reaching any conclusion.
"Based on what I'm hearing, the answer is yes"
Trump spoke to reporters at the White House before departing for a campaign swing through Texas and Oklahoma. Asked whether Iran was involved, he said: "I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes, but we're working on it right now." Pressed on whether the U.S. would retaliate if Tehran was behind it, he replied: "Oh they'll be hit, very hard, don't worry." He added that the Omani co-pilot "could've been" an agent of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — without offering evidence.
The incident occurred on September 30: on a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the Indian captain, causing the aircraft to plummet. The wounded captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to subdue the co-pilot, and the plane made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The 174 passengers, mostly Israeli, were flown home on a replacement flight and welcomed as heroes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Thursday morning that it is "too early to say" whether Iran was involved, while revealing that the co-pilot had undergone what he called "Islamist radical indoctrination" and had demanded the passengers and crew "kill me" after being restrained.
Three countries investigating, motive still unclear
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel are all investigating. The UAE has opened a formal probe into whether the incident involved terrorist activity, terrorist intent, or prior planning; Saudi preliminary findings confirmed the captain was assaulted by the co-pilot. Investigators have not publicly established a motive, and no official finding points to Iran.
Ceasefire diplomacy stalled, carriers still moving
Trump's warning comes as U.S.-Iran ceasefire diplomacy appears stalled. Iranian officials said Wednesday they had received Washington's formal response to Tehran's latest proposal to end the seven-month war — a proposal Trump had publicly rejected days earlier. In a Time magazine interview published Thursday, Trump said he would not accept proposals "he wouldn't have approved a year ago," and left open the possibility of resuming bombing after the November 3 U.S. election.
The military buildup continues: according to Axios, the U.S. has deployed additional Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to protect critical energy infrastructure, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group is heading to the Middle East to join two other U.S. carrier groups already in the region.
For Chinese American readers, the takeaway is that the transmission chain from Middle East tensions to oil prices, airfares, and inflation is still live — a single headline can move all of them. Whether or not the investigation ever ties the attack to Tehran, regional tensions are unlikely to cool soon. The investigation's findings and Trump's post-November 3 posture are the two things to watch next.