Iran just became the suspect in a failed plane attack on Israel

A FlyDubai co-pilot just told investigators he meant to crash his plane into Israel.

So now there's a bigger question. Who put him up to it.

His name is Hamam al-Hammami. He's 29, from Oman. Four days ago he attacked his captain, Smit Machchhar, with the plane's emergency crash axe. Mid-flight. Cockpit. Flight FZ1073, Dubai to Tel Aviv, 174 people on board.

The plane dropped 17,000 feet.

Then passengers and off-duty FlyDubai pilots sitting in the cabin wrestled him off the controls and landed the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hammami was handed to the UAE, which is running the investigation. The UAE's Attorney-General, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, calls it an attempted terrorist act. He says al-Hammami began executing his plan during the flight by attacking the captain and trying to take control.

Now, Israel Hayom says people familiar with the investigation report that al-Hammami said, under questioning, that he meant to crash the plane into a ground target in Israel. ABC News reports the same intent, through its own reporting, in softer terms.

So that part isn't really in dispute.

Here's where it splits.

Israel Hayom reports that investigators are looking at whether al-Hammami was recruited by a Syrian terror group. One that Iran set up during Syria's civil war, under the Assad government. A group investigators reportedly believe might still be active.

Al-Hammami's mother is Syrian. He lived in Syria for years. Israel Hayom's reporting says that's where he went through a process of religious indoctrination, and that he was likely recruited by this group during that time. If that's confirmed, the theory goes, he wasn't just an angry man acting on his own. He was prepared for exactly this kind of attack. The kind that looks like 11 September 2001.

But that's one outlet's reporting, describing one line of inquiry. It isn't a finding.

And it's directly contradicted.

The Associated Press, reported through Ynet, says a person familiar with the investigation found no evidence linking al-Hammami to Iran. Its working theory right now is that he acted alone. The Media Line reports the same thing. No terror group behind it, as far as investigators can tell.