US President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to strike Iran "very hard" if Tehran's involvement is confirmed in the mid-air knife attack on the pilot of a Flydubai flight, as Israel pointed to "Islamist indoctrination" of the co-pilot.
Donald Trump © Mena Today
US President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to strike Iran "very hard" if Tehran's involvement is confirmed in the mid-air knife attack on the pilot of a Flydubai flight, as Israel pointed to "Islamist indoctrination" of the co-pilot.
"They'll be hit very hard, don't worry about that," Trump said when asked whether the US would respond if Iranian responsibility were established.
Two days after the plane's emergency landing in Saudi Arabia - the aircraft had been flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 people aboard, including 166 Israelis - the suspect's profile and motives remain unclear.
Passengers say the Omani co-pilot stabbed the captain in an apparent attempt to crash the plane before being subdued. Israel has called it an "attempted jihadist terrorist attack," and Trump said he believed Iran was involved: "I would say the answer is yes, based on what I'm hearing, but we're working on that right now."
Military buildup continues
The US hasn't struck Iran since September 1, though ships are regularly targeted in the Strait of Hormuz, and no diplomatic breakthrough appears imminent more than seven months into the conflict.
Trump told Time magazine it was "possible" attacks on Iran could intensify after November's midterms. The Pentagon has reportedly dispatched an aircraft carrier and additional vessels, representing 9,000 to 10,000 more troops, due to arrive by late November, alongside two extra Patriot missile batteries sent to protect Gulf energy facilities.
Saudi authorities confirmed Thursday the co-pilot attacked his colleague, without detailing a motive, and said the suspect had been transferred to the UAE, where prosecutors are investigating any "terrorist activity or intent."
Netanyahu, who did not rule out a psychiatric element, said the co-pilot "had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination," adding: "He screamed 'kill me, kill me'... It's clear he intended to crash the plane."
Passenger Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber, described shoving the co-pilot out of the cockpit before leveling the aircraft using knowledge gleaned from the TV series "Mayday." The injured Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, has since been transferred to the UAE, where he is reported "in good health and recovering well."
Saudi state oil company Aramco has ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran, six people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday, as fighting between the world's largest crude exporter and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis intensifies.
Two people were killed and eight injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia's eastern oil hub of Dammam on Wednesday evening, Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said on Thursday.
Senior UAE diplomat Lana Nusseibeh entered the race to become the next United Nations secretary-general on Wednesday, injecting a prominent Middle Eastern candidate into a contest that has struggled to produce a consensus choice among the Security Council’s most powerful members.
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