Trump suggests flydubai co-pilot may have had Iran ties, says probe underway

President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) raised the possibility that the flydubai co-pilot who allegedly tried to crash a passenger jet bound for Israel had ties to Iran.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump was asked whether the co-pilot had links to Iran. "Based on what I'm hearing, the answer would be yes," he said, adding that "we are currently investigating" — without disclosing specific details about any suspected Iranian connection.

On Wednesday, an Omani co-pilot aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073 — carrying 174 passengers from Dubai, UAE, to Israel — allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to bring down the aircraft. The attack sent the plane into a sharp dive, but the injured captain managed to open the cockpit door and passengers subdued the co-pilot, averting a disaster.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier told US media it was "too early to say" whether Iran was involved.

When asked whether a prolonged conflict with Iran could hurt Republicans and himself in the midterm elections, Trump rebuffed the suggestion, saying it would "help" because Iran "won't have nuclear weapons."

On the question of whether Lebanon's Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah could acquire nuclear weapons, Trump said: "They can't have them, they won't have them, and they're agreeing not to have them."

Trump was also asked whether Cornell University had done enough to investigate gang-rape allegations on its campus. "I don't know much about it, but Cornell is a great school," he said. "I'm confident they'll do the right thing."

The allegations stem from a lawsuit filed by a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by seven students at the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell in October 2024. One of the men named in the suit is a Korean student with the surname Lee. The alleged victim was 20 years old at the time and left the university after the incident.