Iran has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of orchestrating what it described as a “false flag” operation around the Flydubai cockpit incident, alleging that the episode was designed to strengthen Netanyahu politically and create a pretext for renewed military confrontation with Iran. The allegation was carried in a Press TV report citing an unnamed regional source, but no independent evidence establishing such a plot has been presented.

The allegations followed the September 30 incident involving Flydubai flight FZ1073, which was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when an altercation occurred in the cockpit. The aircraft experienced a sharp loss of altitude, transmitted emergency signals and was diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. Passengers and crew members intervened after the cockpit incident, while the captain and co-pilot were injured. Authorities subsequently began investigations into what happened aboard the aircraft.

According to the Iranian report, the alleged objective was to divert attention from controversy surrounding Netanyahu’s handling of the October 7 Hamas attack, bolster his political position ahead of Israel’s October 27 election and create circumstances that could be used to justify renewed action against Tehran. The report also linked its allegations to Netanyahu’s reported meeting with Sheikh Mohamed in Abu Dhabi shortly before the flight incident. These claims remain allegations and have not been established by investigators.

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The allegations have also circulated widely on social media, where posts accused Israel, Mossad and Netanyahu of staging the incident. Israel has rejected the claims. The Israeli embassy in Australia condemned what it described as antisemitic “false flag” conspiracy theories alleging that Israel was responsible for the incident. Independent reporting has likewise noted that misinformation and unverified claims spread rapidly online after the flight emergency, while investigators were still determining the circumstances and motive.

At the same time, US President Donald Trump has raised a separate possibility that Iran could have been connected to the incident. Asked whether he had been briefed on a possible link between the Omani co-pilot and Iran, Trump said the answer, based on what he was hearing, was yes, while stressing that officials were still working on the matter. He also said the co-pilot could have been linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but provided no evidence publicly supporting that possibility.

The UAE authorities have said the incident is under investigation and that the inquiry will examine its circumstances, motives, any possible terrorist connection and whether there was prior planning or direction. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has specifically urged reliance on official information and warned against speculation or unverified claims until the investigation is completed. At present, the competing claims about an Iranian connection or an alleged Israeli-UAE “false flag” operation remain unproven, with authorities continuing to investigate the Flydubai incident.

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