Trump points to Iran link in Flydubai attack as Netanyahu admits breach

Update, 2 October, 07:07 Israel time

US President Donald Trump has said he believes Iran was involved in the attack on the Flydubai flight, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged a security lapse. Axios correspondent Barak Ravid reported that Trump told reporters on Thursday he had reason to suspect Iranian involvement, saying "Based on what I'm hearing is yes" and adding that the matter was still being worked on. Asked by a reporter whether the US would respond if Iran proved to be behind it, Trump replied that Iran would take a very heavy blow, according to Abu Ali Express.

Netanyahu told Fox News there had been a "breach" that allowed the Omani pilot to fly to Israel, Ynet reported. He said the pilot had undergone extreme Islamist brainwashing and that it should be known within days whether he had ties to Iran. Ynet noted that Trump sounded less cautious than Netanyahu on the Iran question.

A separate Ynet analysis said Shin Bet chief Zini had warned for months that security arrangements on flights from the Emirates were insufficient, though Flydubai is not directly under the agency's responsibility. Ynet said the Omani pilot was rostered despite restrictions, raising the question of where oversight failed.

Israel Hayom reported that investigators are examining all explanations, including mental instability, but that the prevailing working assumption is that he was a terrorist who meant to crash the plane with passengers aboard. The paper's headline questions whether he acted alone, which sits apart from the senior Israeli official quoted by Ynet as saying he probably did.

The story as first reported

The Omani co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of a Flydubai flight bound for Israel has been moved from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to a statement from the Saudi interior ministry, relayed by the Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, both the captain and the co-pilot were flown out in the morning once their medical condition had improved, and an Emirati security team travelled with them. The Jerusalem Post also reported the transfer and the Emirati security escort, citing Saudi Arabia.

In Israel, a senior official gave an assessment at odds with remarks attributed to US President Donald Trump. Ynet reported that the official said a connection to Iran was, for now, ruled out, and that the co-pilot "probably acted alone". Ynet added that Israeli officials hope cooperation with Dubai will help the inquiry and that preparations are under way to send an Israeli team to Abu Dhabi.

What the Saudi statement says

The Saudi interior ministry said a preliminary investigation found that the co-pilot had assaulted the captain. The inquiry, according to the ministry, was carried out by the relevant Saudi authorities, with a technical team from the UAE taking part. Abu Ali Express, in an editorial note added to the ministry's text, described the co-pilot as the man who stabbed the captain; that detail is the channel's own gloss and was not attributed to the Saudi statement.

Ynet observed that the Saudi announcement made no mention of Israel and did not use the word terror. The ministry's account confines itself to the medical transfer, the security escort and the finding that one crew member attacked the other.

How the sources describe the incident

The reports differ in how they characterise what happened in the cockpit. Ynet and the Israeli outlet News.co.il both describe the Omani co-pilot as having tried to crash the aircraft, which News.co.il said was heading to Tel Aviv. The Jerusalem Post called him a hijacker. The Saudi statement, as relayed, says only that he attacked the captain, and does not describe any attempt to bring the plane down. Readers should treat the claim that the co-pilot meant to crash the aircraft as the characterisation of Israeli media rather than a finding announced by the Saudi investigators.

A photograph caption carried by The Jerusalem Post states that the Flydubai aircraft, travelling from the UAE to Israel, was diverted to Saudi Arabia after an emergency signal, and that passengers later reached Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, on another plane.

Background for readers outside the region

Flydubai is an airline based in Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE; Abu Dhabi, where the two crew members were taken, is the federation's capital. The UAE and Israel have had formal diplomatic ties since the Abraham Accords, and direct flights between the two countries are routine. Saudi Arabia, where the aircraft came down, does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, which helps explain why the Saudi statement was read closely in Israel for what it did and did not mention. Oman, the co-pilot's country, borders both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The prospect of an Israeli team travelling to Abu Dhabi reflects the fact that the suspect is now in Emirati hands, and that any Israeli role in the investigation depends on the cooperation of the UAE authorities.

The question of an Iran link

According to Ynet, the senior Israeli official's comments ran contrary to what Trump had said. Ynet's report indicates that the difference concerned a possible connection to Iran, which the official said had been ruled out at this stage. The reports in the material do not quote Trump's remarks directly or say when or where he made them.

What the reports do not say

• None of the reports gives the names of the captain or the co-pilot, or details of the captain's injuries beyond the Saudi note that his condition improved.
• The reports do not state a motive, and the Saudi statement does not say whether the attack was treated as terrorism.
• It is not clear from the material whether the co-pilot faces charges, in which country, or under whose jurisdiction the case will proceed.
• No report confirms that the UAE has agreed to receive an Israeli investigative team, only that Israel is preparing to send one.
• The number of passengers on board and the exact sequence of events in the cockpit are not given.
• The basis for the Israeli official's assessment that the co-pilot acted alone was not described.