Trump Says Iran Behind Flydubai Incident; JD Vance Says No Conclusive Link Yet

US President Donald Trump said Monday he "personally" believed Iran was behind the September 30 flydubai incident. US Vice President JD Vance took a different line, saying there is "nothing conclusive" yet tying Iran to the attack. UAE authorities are still investigating the stabbing of Indian pilot Smit Machchar by Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami and have not reached a final finding on who was responsible.

Trump said the remark as he boarded Air Force One on Monday afternoon after a reporter asked about Iran's role. "I do. I personally do," Trump said. Vance, speaking to reporters as he and Second Lady Usha Vance departed for Alaska on Monday, said he would defer the matter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who he said was better equipped to comment.

"That's something that I defer to John Ratcliffe and some of the intelligence folks on," JD Vance said. "I don't want to get ahead of any announcements there, but it's certainly something that we're looking at. But I wouldn't say I've seen anything conclusively just yet." Al-Hammami has since been handed over to the UAE after initial interrogation by authorities in Saudi Arabia.

Attack And Response

The flight had 174 passengers, most of them Israelis, and was headed from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Captain Smit Machchar got the cockpit door open in time, passengers overpowered al-Hammami and two flydubai pilots travelling as passengers took control before landing the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Probe And Allegations

Officials in Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have characterised the flydubai incident as a "terror attack." But questions remain about whether the attacking co-pilot acted alone or was part of a larger terror plot.

NBC News reported, citing US officials briefed on the probe, that investigators believe the Omani co-pilot acted alone rather than as part of a larger organisation. The report cautioned that the probe is in its "early stages."

On October 3, UAE Attorney General and Prosecutor General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said early findings pointed to a planned terror attack by Hamam al-Hammami. "Investigations into the incident involving flydubai flight FZ1073 found that the co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist attack," he said, adding that investigators are still trying to determine the “full circumstances, motives, and any links.”

Later, Reuters reported that the interrogation of al-Hammami revealed that he had planned to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Reuters also reported that al-Hammami had planned to crash another plane into Tel Aviv earlier this year but dropped the plan eventually.