The war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the Gulf War of 1990-91 put an end to those repair plans, and the planes were later returned to Serbia upon withdrawal of the Serbian army from Croatia.

Serbian officials say they are ready to return the planes to Iraq, adding that Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac was the one who told Iraqi officials about the jets.

Serbia is eager to renew cooperation with Iraq. The country's defence industry had been a major exporter before the breakup of Yugoslavia, with foreign sales reaching $2 billion annually.