Trump threatens Iran after knife attack aboard Flydubai flight, as US strengthens military presence in Middle East

US President Donald Trump has threatened to hit Iran "very hard" if Tehran's involvement in the mid-air knife attack on the pilot of a Flydubai flight were revealed.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is sending a third strike group to the Middle East centered on the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and additional Marine Corps ships: the move, reports the Wall Street Journal, will lead to the arrival of an additional contingent of between 9,000 and 10,000 personnel in the region, just as President Donald Trump evaluates the possibility of resuming attacks against Iran after the mid-term elections. The ships, fighters, Marines and Navy personnel will arrive in the area by the end of November, officials cited anonymously as saying.

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In recent weeks, the US military has sent two additional Patriot missile batteries to protect oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Axios reports this, according to what was reported by two US officials and a source in the region. The US move aims to reassure both allies about the protection of their strategic energy infrastructure, in the event that President Donald Trump decides to restart major combat operations against Iran. Yesterday Trump said he was evaluating the possibility of resuming a bombing campaign in the coming weeks. “Now I have to make a decision: either Iran signs the agreement, or it will no longer exist,” he said.