Oman stays silent on flydubai attack as Omanis doubt co-pilot was behind it

Israel and Oman have no diplomatic relations, which has put the co-pilot’s nationality at the center of the investigation into how he was cleared to fly a plane to Israel.

By Gila Isaacson, JFeed

Oman has remained officially silent on the attempted attack aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073, even as Israel and other governments identify the co-pilot accused of stabbing the captain and trying to crash the plane as an Omani citizen.

An unofficial Omani source told Kan News that many Omanis doubt the reports.

“Everyone here is wondering if this news is true,” the source said. “There are no historical precedents for terrorist acts carried out by Omanis.”

That claim does not hold up. In July 2024, three Omani brothers who had pledged allegiance to ISIS attacked a Shiite mosque in the Wadi Kabir area of Muscat during Ashura, killing six people, including a policeman, before they were shot dead by security forces.

Royal Oman Police confirmed the attackers were Omani citizens.

That attack also met with denial: many Omanis rejected the idea of ISIS infiltration, and a conspiracy theory spread online claiming Israel had activated the cell to punish Oman for its support of Gaza.

While Muscat has not commented publicly, an Omani official confirmed to CBS News that the suspect was born in Oman and holds Omani citizenship.

The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that he held no second nationality.

A regional official told the Associated Press that Oman is among the countries involved in the investigation, which the UAE is leading.

Oman was once seen as the leading candidate to normalize relations with Israel.

Netanyahu made a publicly announced visit to Muscat in 2018 and met Sultan Qaboos bin Said. According to Kan’s Roi Kais, Qaboos’s cousin and successor, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, cooled ties with Israel after taking power in 2020 and moved Oman closer to Iran.

Kais noted that since October 7, Omani public opinion has turned sharply against Israel and that the country’s grand mufti incites against Israel at every opportunity.

Israel and Oman have no diplomatic relations, which has put the co-pilot’s nationality at the center of the investigation into how he was cleared to fly a plane to Israel.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev said Flydubai breached its agreement with Israel, which she said requires pilots on Israel-bound flights to come from countries with diplomatic ties.