US President Donald Trump spoke on Thursday about the possible Iran connection to the attempted hijacking of Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Israel, and said that based on what he has heard, there is indeed a connection.
Asked if the Omani co-pilot who attempted to crash the aircraft was linked to Iran, the President answered, "I would say the answer based on what I'm hearing is yes, but we're working on it now."
He was also asked if the US would retaliate if Iran was indeed found to be responsible, to which he answered: "They'll be hit very hard. Don't worry about it, you just ask them.
Trump added: "Iran now has 301% inflation, their money is valueless, their economy is gone, they have no military, they have no anti-aircraft, they have very little going, and we control the Strait (of Hormuz). We took out more oil in the past two days than any time in the history of this strait."
His remarks follow earlier comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Fox News. Netanyahu clarified that authorities are investigating the possibility that the pilot did not act alone and are also examining potential Iranian involvement.
"We will get to the bottom of this. We will investigate whether the pilot had accomplices and whether Iran was behind him. I think we will know very soon," Netanyahu said.