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JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump said Thursday that if Iran is linked to the copilot who tried to crash an Israel-bound flight, the Islamic Republic would be struck \u201cvery hard\u201d for the attempt on the lives of more than 180 people aboard the jet.<\/p>\n
Trump issued the warning as investigators worked to determine why the copilot stabbed the flight\u2019s captain, causing the FlyDubai plane to plummet before others on board stopped the attack and landed the airliner in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
The president was asked by reporters at the White House whether he had been briefed about any links between the pilot behind the attack and Tehran. He said, \u201cWe\u2019re working on it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say the answer, based on what I\u2019m hearing, is yes, but we\u2019re working on it right now,\u201d Trump said. He did not elaborate about why he suspects Iran might be involved.<\/p>\n
Asked if the US would retaliate against Tehran if it was behind the attack, Trump said, \u201cOh they\u2019ll be hit, very hard, don\u2019t worry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just ask them,\u201d he added. \u201cThey know what happened. They\u2019ll be hit very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
His remarks came as diplomatic efforts to end the war appear to have stalled.<\/p>\n
Iranian officials indicated Wednesday that they received an official US response to Tehran\u2019s latest proposal to end the seven-month war, which Trump had publicly rejected just days earlier. The officials did not say what the response contained and whether it was a rejection.<\/p>\n
Trump said in a Time magazine interview published Thursday that he will not accept proposals from Iran that \u201che wouldn\u2019t have approved a year ago,\u201d and left open the possibility of resuming bombing after the Nov. 3 election in the US<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the American military has dispatched roughly 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships to the Middle East, a US official said Thursday. That could mean three carriers will be in the region as soon as late October, according to the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.<\/p>\n
Despite Trump\u2019s public rebuff, mediators have continued working with Iran and the US to try to broker a deal to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz, according to officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
Passengers got into cockpit to take control of jet<\/strong><\/p>\n Passengers on the plane \u2014 which was carrying 182 people, mostly Israelis, from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv \u2014 have described how the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the copilot and stabilized a descent so sharp that the plane\u2019s rudder was torn away.<\/p>\n \u201cWe felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn\u2019t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive,\u201d Asaf Rajuan, who was among those who intervened, said in a statement shared by Israel\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n A regional official briefed on the investigation said the suspect, an Omani citizen, was under arrest and confirmed that Saudi authorities were working with countries, including Israel, to try to determine a motive. He said the UAE, the United States and Oman also were involved. Saudi Arabia said the copilot had been handed over to the UAE.<\/p>\n \u201cAll possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now,\u201d said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing probe.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without giving details, claimed the attacker underwent Islamist indoctrination. Asked who helped radicalize him, the prime minister told Fox News channel\u2019s \u201cFox and Friends\u201d he did not know.<\/p>\n When asked by AP how the prime minister knew the copilot underwent indoctrination, Netanyahu\u2019s office said it would not comment.<\/p>\n Netanyahu told Fox that the suspect apparently got through a loophole in Israeli aviation rules that normally bar pilots from flying to Israel if they are from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, which Oman does not.<\/p>\n The copilot has not been publicly identified. Video shot inside the plane by Dr. Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, shows the copilot on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back.<\/p>\n Capt. Smit Machchhar, widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight, was recovering in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi, the Indian government said Thursday.<\/p>\n It was not clear what the copilot used as a weapon.<\/p>\n Israeli investigators will join the interrogation of the copilot<\/strong><\/p>\n Israeli intelligence and security officials were in Saudi Arabia to help investigate the copilot, according to another regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.<\/p>\n Israel has requested that the copilot be sent to Israel for the investigation, though it was unclear if that request would be granted, the official said.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but the countries have long cooperated on security and intelligence matters through alternative channels.<\/p>\n The UAE government said its own investigation team had begun looking into the attack and \u201cwhether it was linked to any terrorist purpose,\u201d noting that Emirati authorities have jurisdiction because the plane is registered there and UAE law applies to crimes committed on board.<\/p>\n Asked if there is any indication of Iranian involvement, Netanyahu told Fox News it was \u201ctoo early to say.\u201d<\/p>\n Netanyahu earlier said he also spoke with the UAE\u2019s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspect.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident \u201cat length\u201d by phone. He said it seemed as though the copilot \u201cwas perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job.\u201d<\/p>\n Oman\u2019s government has not commented.<\/p>\n Netanyahu had warned in recent days of heightened security threats, though he told CNN that Israel had received no specific warning. The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which has triggered the war in Gaza, and weeks away from an election.<\/p>\n The Israeli Foreign Ministry said most of the people aboard the flight were from Israel, along with others from India and the UAE. The US State Department said four passengers had American citizenship.<\/p>\n Someone in cockpit sent out discreet distress codes<\/strong><\/p>\n Someone in the cockpit sent out two four-digit codes to discreetly signal distress while the plane flew erratically near the Jordanian border with Saudi Arabia, according to Flightradar24.com. The first code was \u201c7700,\u201d the universal \u201csquawk\u201d signal for an emergency, then \u201c7500,\u201d which indicates unlawful interference, including a possible hijacking.<\/p>\n The codes are used by pilots when it\u2019s impossible or dangerous for them to speak over the radio.<\/p>\n FlyDubai said Wednesday that the jet was secured by on-duty crew members \u201cwho diverted and landed the aircraft safely.\u201d A regional official said the crew members were pilots in training. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.<\/p>\n In the chaos that began about two and a half hours after takeoff, the Boeing 737 Max 8 descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters) in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk, according to Flightradar24.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n