WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday that Iran will be “hit very hard” if it is behind the attack on Flydubai flight FZ1073, after the copilot assaulted the captain and the aircraft made an emergency landing at Tabuk with 174 passengers and eight crew aboard.
He answered on the South Lawn as he left the White House. The question was whether the United States would retaliate against Iran if it was behind the attack on the plane. The White House posted the gaggle as “President Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Departure from the White House, Oct. 1, 2026.” Marine One’s engines are audible on the tape.
Oh, they’ll be hit very hard. Don’t worry about it. You just ask them. They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard.
Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry posted the account. An official source said competent authorities managed an inflight emergency on FZ1073 and authorized a landing at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk on Sept. 30. The aircraft landed at 9:45 a.m. with 174 passengers and an eight-member crew. At 5:40 p.m. the passengers continued on a replacement Flydubai aircraft. The crew returned to Dubai on a separate airline flight. The captain and copilot were taken to a local hospital.
The same statement says a preliminary investigation, conducted with a UAE security team, found that the copilot assaulted the captain and that both were injured. After medical clearance, both pilots left Saudi Arabia for Abu Dhabi on Oct. 1 with that team. The statement does not name Iran. It does not use the word crash. It says the aircraft landed safely.
UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi ordered a Public Prosecution team to examine the incident, including whether it involved terrorist activity or prior direction, the Emirates News Agency reported. The General Civil Aviation Authority called it a security incident. Neither UAE text, as reported, names a state sponsor. The Saudi statement is the government document that gives the flight number, the time, and the count.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the copilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination.” He met passengers who had helped subdue the attacker. An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that the copilot’s social media discussed killing Jews, and that investigators could not say for certain until the inquiry ended. That is an Israeli characterization. It is not in the Saudi statement.
On a separate question in the same gaggle, Trump was asked whether he had been briefed on any link between the copilot and Tehran. He said, “We’re working on it right now,” and, “I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes, but we’re working on it right now.” He did not cite a document. The retaliation line is conditional. The department has not posted a release tying the copilot to Iran.