Iran

Tehran, October 1, 2026. The Iranian press is treating the incident of flydubai flight FZ1073 as an affair with still unclear contours, largely drawing from Israeli and Arab sources. The Mehr agency, in its initial dispatch, mentions an aircraft "en route to Tel Aviv" that issued an emergency signal with over 150 passengers, and specifies that the circumstances had "not yet been established independently". It also notes that Hebrew media attributed the diversion to "a disagreement between the two pilots", without any security incident.

The Young Journalists Club (YJC), citing Al Jazeera, details the technical chronology: approximately two and a half hours after takeoff from Dubai, the plane lost around 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) in less than 30 seconds, first emitting code 7700 and then, a few minutes later, code 7500, a sign of "illicit intervention". The agency indicates that the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed that the injured commander, Smit Machchhar, is Indian and being treated in Tabouk. It reports that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke of a "terrorist attack attempt", while noting that the motive of the aggressor, an Omani according to Reuters, remained unknown. YJC also announces that flydubai has suspended all its flights to and from the "occupied territories" pending the investigation.

Khabar Online emphasizes the diplomatic aspect and the confusion of versions: according to the Israeli channel Kan, Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed discussed the follow-up and coordination between Israel and the Emirates by phone. The site recalls that initial reports spoke of a hijacking, before a complementary investigation mentioned, in its formulation, a passenger altercation over a cigarette in the cabin. It adds that Israeli sources claim the co-pilot wanted to crash the plane, and that Israeli investigators would participate in the interrogation in Saudi Arabia.

Iran International, an English-language media outlet, provides a more factual account: Tabouk airport was alerted at 8:44, the plane, a Boeing 737, landed at 9:45, the commander and co-pilot were hospitalized, and three Israeli officials identified the co-pilot as the perpetrator of the knife attack. Neither Riyadh nor flydubai had publicly explained the cause.

The set of articles thus prioritizes doubt about the origin of the incident and the expression "occupied territories" to designate the destination, rather than the heroic account of the Indian pilot.