Trump reveals FlyDubai pilot may be linked to Iran as he issues chilling warning

Donald Trump believes the FlyDubai co-pilot who hijacked a plane after stabbing the captain was likely linked to Iran's military before delivering a stern warning. The co-pilot stabbed the aircraft's captain in an apparent attempt to crash the plane as it flew from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Disaster was narrowly averted after the wounded captain unlocked the cockpit door, enabling passengers to subdue the assailant. There were over 170 people aboard the flight, primarily Israelis. Trump said at the White House on Thursday that his administration is working to identify whether the co-pilot has links to Iran and its elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).'We're working on it right now and being very open with us.'Responding to whether the pilot has links to Iran or the IRGC, Trump shot back: 'I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes. But we're working on it right now.' If the co-pilot is found to have links to Iran, the US will punish the regime for backing the attack, Trump warned. 'They'll be hit very hard,' he said, delivering his five-word threat. 'Don't worry.' President Trump said he believes that the co-pilot who stabbed the captain of a FlyDubai passenger flight to Tel Aviv in an apparent hijacking attempt likely is connected to Iran This undated photo released on Israel's Foreign Ministry social media shows Indian Captain Smit Machchhar. Machchhar was at the controls of a FlyDubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing on Wednesday Trump suggested that the assailant may be linked to Iran or the IRGC but the administration is still looking into it'We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination. That appears to be something we are gathering from his personal information,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.Two Israeli security officials said their initial assessment is that the co-pilot, identified as an Omani national, was likely acting alone, though the investigation was still ongoing.The flight plunged more than 14,000ft in less than 30 seconds during the incident as it flew over Saudi Arabia on the journey from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.Despite the scare, all passangers remained safe during the incident. However, both the co-pilot and captain were hospitalized, according to Tabuk airport officials. The flight made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after passengers subdued the co-pilot. Trump praised Boeing and its CEO Kelly Ortberg in a social media post Thursday morning for the design of the 737 MAX and its ability to withstand extreme conditions as it rapidly descended before stabilizing. 'Congratulations to the great Boeing Company for producing a plane, the 737 Max, that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed and expected to do,' he wrote. 'It was an amazing show of precise and powerful structural planning and design. It is about time that The Boeing Company, which builds, by far, the finest commercial airliners in the sky, was given credit for this airplane's incredible 'genius!' To Kelly Ortberg, and all of his officers and associates at Boeing, congratulations on a job well done!!!' Images that have emerged from the flight show Captain Machchhar bloodied and breathing through an oxygen mask in the aftermath of the stabbingA fellow pilot has also now claimed the assailant – who is believed to be an Omani national – was a religious extremist.Speaking in Hebrew on Israel's Channel 16, foreign editor and news anchor Yosef Yisrael described how he spoke to a colleague of the attacker, who wishes to remain anonymous.In a translated version, Yisrael reads out how the violent pilot 'was someone characterized by very strange behavior, especially around religious observances that were out of step with his surroundings [at FlyDubai]. For instance, he used to pray a lot, and would not shake hands with women'.Yisrael said his source 'expressed contrition' and said FlyDubai had 'betrayed Israel.''There is no other way to put it, we hired the services of a terrorist and nearly caused the deaths of 180 people,' Mr Yisrael continued. 'Usually only Emiratis fly to Israel. It is not clear how he got on this flight.'