Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed visits Captain Smit Machchhar in hospital in Abu Dhabi following the attack aboard flydubai flight FZ1073.
Photograph: Government of Dubai Media Office.
Follow the UAE through the week with Emirates Wire. Subscribe for a briefing that puts the news in context and clearly labels unresolved claims.
Morning. Steve Moore here. UAE investigators say the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 used a crash axe to attack the captain and tried to seize control of the aircraft in an attempted terrorist act. The Attorney General’s statement gives the inquiry its clearest account yet of what happened inside the cockpit, while leaving the motive and any outside connections under investigation.
Across the Gulf, Iran has warned the UAE about relying on foreign security partners, while Abu Dhabi has renewed its call for a peaceful settlement of the three-islands dispute. There is better news on the pitch: the UAE have reached Tuesday’s Gulf Cup final against Saudi Arabia.
What the prosecutors now say
Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said on Saturday that the co-pilot began carrying out a plan during the flight, attacking the captain with the cockpit crash axe and attempting to take control. Investigators were still examining physical and digital evidence to establish the full circumstances, motives and any connections to others, WAM reported.
His statement describes the incident as an attempted terrorist act. It does not announce formal charges, identify the suspect or attribute responsibility to another country; final findings will follow when the investigation is complete.
The Dubai–Tel Aviv flight diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Captain Smit Machchhar was injured, and flydubai has thanked the crew and passengers who helped secure the aircraft and bring it down safely.
Dubai’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, has visited Machchhar and praised his courage, responsibility and care for passengers’ lives. The airline’s chief executive, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said it would continue supporting everyone affected.
Iran challenges the UAE’s security choices
Separately, Tehran has directed a warning at Abu Dhabi over its relationship with Israel. Ali Akbar Velayati, a foreign-policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, referred to Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent UAE visit and wrote: “The experience of the region has shown that imported security has an expiration date.”
Velayati also challenged the UAE’s renewed claim at the United Nations to Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. Iran controls the islands and rejects the UAE’s sovereignty claim.
On Sunday, UAE presidential diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash said the Emirati position rested on facts and documents. He repeated the UAE’s proposal to settle the dispute through direct negotiations or referral to the International Court of Justice.
Iran’s public position on Hormuz was equally firm. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the strait would not reopen until Tehran met its seven conditions, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told diplomats that Iran remained serious about a negotiated solution.
Ghalibaf acknowledged receiving further US proposals through a mediator, but the report gives neither their terms nor an agreement. His statement sets out Iran’s negotiating position; it does not measure how many ships are passing through the strait.
A refinery fire and competing accounts
Saudi Arabia faces a separate threat from Yemen. The Houthis said on Saturday that they had struck an oil facility near Riyadh with missiles and drones; an AFP journalist saw flames and smoke at Aramco’s Riyadh refinery, with firefighters and emergency vehicles at the scene.
The Saudi-led coalition disputed the Houthi account. Its spokesman, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, described the claims of targeting Riyadh as misleading and accused the group of seeking “imaginary victories” to distract from losses in Yemen.
AFP’s eyewitness account establishes that there was a fire, but does not establish what caused it. The coalition’s response does not resolve that question.
In Sanaa, correspondents reported explosions and aircraft firing missiles. Houthi-run Al-Masirah television said Saudi aircraft had carried out 26 strikes, a figure AFP did not independently verify.
Reserves now, unchanged oil targets for November
Against that uncertainty, the G7 has agreed a coordinated release of 100 million barrels from reserves over four months, beginning immediately. Its statement calls for a substantial diesel release in the first 20 days, with the International Energy Agency monitoring implementation.
The commitment should not be read as 100 million barrels already delivered, or necessarily as an entirely new addition to earlier pledges: the statement explicitly accounts for commitments already fulfilled. Further discussions will consider whether more diesel needs to be released.
On Sunday, seven OPEC+ countries kept their November production targets unchanged. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman made the decision; the UAE was not part of that seven-country group.
Production targets do not show how much oil producers can deliver. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told Reuters that the group’s actual output remained well below its quotas despite rising flows through Hormuz. Brent closed on Friday at $102.25 a barrel.
Abu Dhabi brings AI into public services
Back in Abu Dhabi, government departments and technology companies are preparing to show where artificial intelligence is already being used. AI Everything Abu Dhabi opens at ADNEC on Tuesday, 6 October, and runs through Wednesday.
Gulf News points to TAMM, Abu Dhabi’s digital services platform, as an existing example. Residents can use it for tasks such as renewing a driving licence or booking a vehicle inspection, with AI handling routine requests and staff handling more complex queries, according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office.
The exhibition also plans demonstrations in healthcare and industry, while Wednesday’s government forum will examine systems that can carry out tasks across public services. For residents, the useful evidence will be shorter waits, fewer repeated forms and a clear route to a person when a system gets something wrong. Those are the results worth asking departments to publish.
Saudi Arabia await in the final
Another date for Tuesday’s diary. The UAE beat Oman 1–0 in Jeddah on Saturday to reach the Gulf Cup final against hosts Saudi Arabia.
Ousmane Camara scored with a 22nd-minute header from Mamadou Coulibaly’s cross. Nicolas Gimenez had a penalty saved in the second half, but the UAE held their lead.
Saudi Arabia reached the final by beating Qatar on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. The UAE, champions in 2007 and 2013, will seek a third title on Tuesday, 6 October, in Jeddah.
A landing probe for the asteroid belt
Beyond Tuesday’s final, the UAE has a much longer preparation journey. Sheikh Hamdan attended Sunday’s unveiling of the landing probe for the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, developed, assembled and tested in the UAE.
The probe has reached flight readiness in less than two years, but has not launched. It is due to be integrated with the MBR Explorer spacecraft before a planned launch from Japan in the first quarter of 2028.
The mission will travel about five billion kilometres and explore seven asteroids. At the final destination, 269 Justitia, the probe is designed to separate from the spacecraft and descend to the surface, where scientists hope to learn more about water and organic materials in the early Solar System.
What to watch today
FZ1073: Further prosecution findings on motive and any outside connections, plus confirmed airline plans for the Dubai–Tel Aviv route.
Riyadh: An official explanation for the refinery fire and any verified account of damage.
Hormuz: Whether mediators can turn the latest exchange of proposals into agreed steps.
Fuel supplies: Details of the reserve-release timetable, particularly the early diesel shipments.
AI Everything: Announcements ahead of Tuesday’s opening, with a distinction between demonstrations, contracts and services already in use.
The final: Team news ahead of the UAE’s match against Saudi Arabia.
If this is your first Emirates Wire, subscribe for a weekday briefing that separates official findings from claims still being tested. If someone you know follows the UAE but struggles to keep up with the regional coverage, please share this edition with them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE AND COMMENT INVITATION: I've written and edited this briefing to help you follow what has changed, what officials are saying and what remains unconfirmed. Have a question, a correction or something I should be looking into? Leave a comment, reply to this email or write to me at steve@emirateswire.co.uk.
Steve
Emirates Wire uses AI tools to assist with research, early drafting, fact-checking and copy-editing. Steve Moore reviews, edits and personally approves every sentence before publication.