{"id":29390353,"date":"2026-10-24T17:56:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T15:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/iraqi-air-force-flight-to-iran-1991-desert-storm-su-24-mirage\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T17:56:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T15:56:57","slug":"iraqi-air-force-flight-to-iran-1991-desert-storm-su-24-mirage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/es\/iraqi-air-force-flight-to-iran-1991-desert-storm-su-24-mirage\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi Air Force Flight to Iran: Saddam&rsquo;s 1991 Gamble With His Jets"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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Iraqi jets were taking off, staying low and running hard, not towards the coalition and not towards friendly Jordan, but east, towards Iran.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Iran. The country Iraq had fought for eight years, in a war that had ended barely two years earlier. By the time the flights stopped, well over a hundred of Saddam Hussein&rsquo;s best combat aircraft were parked on Iranian airfields. Most of them never came home.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It was one of the strangest episodes of Operation Desert Storm. Even Saddam&rsquo;s own intelligence chief could not make sense of it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f4f6f9;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:18px 22px;margin:22px 0 26px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\"><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Event:<\/strong> Flight of Iraqi military and civil aircraft to Iran during Operation Desert Storm<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>When:<\/strong> From about 25&ndash;26 January 1991 into February 1991<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>How many:<\/strong> Estimates range from about 115 to 148 aircraft; the USAF Historical Research Agency counts 121<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Main types:<\/strong> Mirage F1, Su-24, Su-20\/22, Su-25, MiG-23, MiG-29, Il-76 transports and the Adnan AEW aircraft<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Coalition response:<\/strong> F-15C, F-14 and F-16 barrier patrols on the Iranian border<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Iran&rsquo;s position:<\/strong> Aircraft seized &ldquo;until the war is over&rdquo;, then kept as reparations<\/li><li style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Returns:<\/strong> Some Su-25s reached Iraq from Iran in 2014<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">An air force being destroyed in its shelters<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>When the coalition air campaign opened on 17 January 1991, the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/iraqi-air-force\/\">Iraqi Air Force<\/a> was the largest in the region. Iraqi pilots who went up to fight were shot down in numbers, and within days most stopped trying.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Staying on the ground was no safer. Iraq had invested heavily in hardened aircraft shelters, and its commanders expected them to hold. Instead, coalition 2,000-pound penetrating bombs punched through the concrete and destroyed the jets inside. An Iraqi Ministry of Defence document signed by Saddam on 26 January said the next move was meant &ldquo;to secure their safety against the hostile air raids that aimed at destroying the aircraft inside the shelters.&rdquo;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/al-salman-hardened-aircraft-shelters-1991.jpg\" alt=\"Damaged concrete hardened aircraft shelters at Al-Salman Air Base in Iraq after coalition bombing in 1991\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Hardened aircraft shelters at Al-Salman Air Base, photographed on 2 March 1991. Coalition penetrating bombs broke through shelters like these, which drove Saddam to send his jets to Iran. US DoD photo by SSgt Dean Wagner \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>According to the Wilson Center&rsquo;s study of captured Iraqi records, a delegation led by Saddam&rsquo;s deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri visited Tehran shortly before the air war. Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani later wrote that Iran&rsquo;s Supreme National Security Council agreed on 12 January to accept Iraqi passenger planes. Iraqi civil airliners and transports began arriving soon after. Saddam then gambled that he could stretch the deal to cover his warplanes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The run for the border<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The first combat jets went across around 25 and 26 January. Some were too short-ranged to reach Iran in one hop and first had to reposition to bases closer to the border. Iranian accounts say several arrived without permission, asked for emergency landings, and at least one damaged aircraft caught fire on touchdown.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The coalition was caught off guard. It had expected any Iraqi escape to head west to Jordan and had placed its fighter patrols accordingly. By the time it shifted <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-15-eagle\/\">F-15C Eagles<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-14-tomcat\/\">F-14 Tomcats<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-16-fighting-falcon\/\">F-16s<\/a> into a barrier along the Iranian border, many Iraqi jets were already gone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VoVSlxkmIdc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">A news summary for 28 January 1991, day 12 of the air war, reporting that 80 Iraqi aircraft had crossed into Iran.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>On 28 January, General Norman Schwarzkopf told reporters the count in Iran had reached 39, and that the quality was rising.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;They are now taking their very best fighters over there.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf<\/strong> &mdash; Commander, US Central Command, 28 January 1991 (via the New York Times, cited by the Wilson Center)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The Eagles did catch some. On 27 January, two F-15C pilots of the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/united-states-air-force\/\">United States Air Force<\/a> shot down three <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mig-23-flogger\/\">MiG-23s<\/a> and a <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/dassault-mirage-f1\/\">Mirage F1<\/a> heading for al-Bakr air base, apparently staging for the run east. On 6 February, Capt. Thomas Dietz and Lt. Bob Hehemann caught four aircraft running low for the border and downed them all with Sidewinders in seconds, Dietz two <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mig-21-fishbed\/\">MiG-21s<\/a> and Hehemann two <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/su-25-frogfoot\/\">Su-25s<\/a>. The next day, F-15Cs shot down two <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/su-22-fitter\/\">Su-22s<\/a> and an Su-7 as they tried to flee.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/f-15c-gulf-spirit-rick-parsons-kills.jpg\" alt=\"Nose art reading Gulf Spirit and three Iraqi flag kill markings under the cockpit of a US Air Force F-15C flown by Col. Rick Parsons\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">&ldquo;Gulf Spirit&rdquo;, an F-15C of the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, displayed in May 1991 with three Iraqi flags for the aircraft shot down by its pilot, Col. Rick Parsons, during Desert Storm. US DoD photo by Don S. Montgomery \/ public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">How many got through?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Nobody has ever produced a single agreed number. Pentagon officials spoke of at least 80, possibly 100, by 29 January. Iraq later said 115 warplanes and 148 aircraft in total had gone to Iran. US officials put the total at 137. The US Air Force Historical Research Agency counts 121 Iraqi aircraft that reached Iran safely. Wikipedia gives a range of 115 to 140.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Wilson Center&rsquo;s tally of the warplanes lists 24 Mirage F1s, 24 <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/su-24-fencer\/\">Su-24<\/a> strike jets, 40 Su-22s, four Su-20s, seven Su-25s, 12 MiG-23s and four <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mig-29-fulcrum\/\">MiG-29s<\/a>, which adds up to 115. On top of those came transports and airliners, including <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/il-76-candid\/\">Il-76s<\/a>. Among them, by most accounts, was at least one Adnan, an Il-76 that Iraq had converted into an airborne early warning aircraft with a French radar; sources differ on whether one or two reached Iran.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u4J_WVFG6zQ\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">The following day&rsquo;s news coverage as Iraqi aircraft continued to flee across the border to Iran.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Tehran insisted it was neutral. On 30 January, with the count already past 90, Iran&rsquo;s ambassador to the United Nations, Kamal Kharrazi, made the position public.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;These airplanes are seized and they will be seized until the war is over.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Kamal Kharrazi<\/strong> &mdash; Iran&rsquo;s ambassador to the United Nations, 30 January 1991 (cited by the Wilson Center)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Saddam&rsquo;s strangest decision<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Captured Iraqi records leave no doubt that Saddam ordered the evacuation himself, approving each wave in turn. In a memo to his air force commanders he explained that the planes had been sent to Iran for safekeeping, until the time came to use them against the enemy. Iraqi paperwork from February even shows Su-25 pilots being issued passports so they could follow their aircraft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Wafiq al-Sammara&rsquo;i, then head of Iraqi military intelligence and later a defector, called it &ldquo;the strangest decision out of all of his strange decisions&rdquo; in his memoirs. The aircrews who flew the jets across were reportedly held in Iran and not released until years later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/iriaf-su-24-mehrabad-2009.jpg\" alt=\"A desert-camouflaged Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 taxiing at Mehrabad airport in Tehran\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">An Iranian Air Force Su-24 at Mehrabad in 2009. The Su-24s flown across in 1991 gave Iran a long-range strike jet it could not buy from the West. Photo: Shahram Sharifi \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The war ended on 28 February. The jets stayed. By April, Iranian crews were painting their own air force insignia on some of them. Iran pointed to the enormous damage of the Iran&ndash;Iraq War and treated the aircraft as a down payment on reparations, while also telling Baghdad that UN sanctions on Iraq tied its hands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A windfall for Tehran<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>For the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/islamic-republic-of-iran-air-force\/\">Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force<\/a>, starved of spare parts by Western sanctions, the windfall was real. The Su-24s gave Iran a modern long-range strike jet it could never have bought from the West, and the MiG-29s joined a fleet Iran was building with Russian help. Former Iraqi Mirage F1s were still flying in Iranian colours decades later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Not everything flew again. Some types were judged not worth the cost of maintaining and went into storage. One former Iraqi Il-76 AEW aircraft, given the name Simorgh, was lost in 2009 after a reported mid-air collision with a fighter during a military parade near Tehran.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><div><em>&ldquo;The Iranians are even stronger than before; they now have our air force.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Saddam Hussein<\/strong> &mdash; Audio recording in the months before the 2003 war (cited by the Wilson Center)<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The story has an epilogue. In 2007, Iraq asked for its aircraft back. In the summer of 2014, as the Islamic State swept across northern Iraq, Su-25s began appearing in Iraqi service; analysts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded that a batch delivered on 1 July had come from Iran, and many were believed to be ex-Iraqi jets from 1991.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NFDywsUxUzE\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 24px\">Euronews, December 2014: reports of Iranian air strikes in eastern Iraq, and of Iran supplying Iraq with Su-25 attack jets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Twenty-three years after they fled across the border to escape American bombs, a few of Saddam&rsquo;s Frogfoots came home, sent by the country he had tried to use as a hangar. Iran kept the rest. As wartime gambles go, few have backfired so completely.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (Gulf War air campaign; Air engagements of the Gulf War; Iraqi Air Force; Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force), Wilson Center (Michael Brill, Odyssey of Iraq&rsquo;s Air Force), US Air Force Historical Research Agency (Daniel L. Haulman), Aerospaceweb.org, Robins AFB, AFP<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Why did the Iraqi Air Force fly to Iran in 1991?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Coalition bombs were destroying Iraqi jets inside their hardened shelters early in Operation Desert Storm. Saddam Hussein ordered his best aircraft flown to Iran for safekeeping, hoping to use them later. Iran had agreed to accept Iraqi passenger planes, and Saddam gambled that it would also shelter his warplanes.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How many Iraqi aircraft fled to Iran during Desert Storm?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Estimates differ. Iraq said 115 warplanes and 148 aircraft in total, US officials said 137, and the US Air Force Historical Research Agency counts 121 aircraft that reached Iran. One common tally of the warplanes lists 24 Mirage F1s, 24 Su-24s, 40 Su-22s, four Su-20s, seven Su-25s, 12 MiG-23s and four MiG-29s.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did US fighters shoot down Iraqi jets fleeing to Iran?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. F-15Cs flying barrier patrols on the Iranian border shot down several. On 6 February 1991, Capt. Thomas Dietz downed two MiG-21s and Lt. Bob Hehemann two Su-25s in seconds, and on 7 February F-15Cs shot down two Su-22s and an Su-7. Many others got through first.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What did Iran do with the Iraqi aircraft?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Iran said it would hold the aircraft until the war ended, then kept them, treating them as partial reparations for the Iran-Iraq War. Iranian crews painted their own insignia on some. The Su-24s, MiG-29s and Mirage F1s went into Iranian service, while some other types were stored.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was the Iraqi Il-76 Adnan flown to Iran?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes, by most accounts. The Adnan was an Il-76 converted by Iraq into an airborne early warning aircraft with a French radar. Accounts differ on whether one or two reached Iran. A former Iraqi Il-76 AEW aircraft named Simorgh was later lost in Iranian service in 2009.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did Iran ever return the Iraqi aircraft?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Iran kept the aircraft for more than two decades. In 2014, as Iraq fought the Islamic State, Su-25 attack jets were delivered to Iraq from Iran, and many were believed to be ex-Iraqi aircraft that had fled in 1991. Most of the other jets remained in Iran.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Can I fly in a MiG-21?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. MiGFlug offers supersonic MiG-21 flights from Tampa, Florida, in the two-seat version of the Mach 2 fighter, sitting directly behind the pilot. The MiG-21 is the most-produced supersonic jet in history, built in more than 11,400 examples. Details and booking: <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/mig-21\/\">MiG-21 flight<\/a>.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the Iraqi Air Force fly to Iran in 1991?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Coalition bombs were destroying Iraqi jets inside their hardened shelters early in Operation Desert Storm. Saddam Hussein ordered his best aircraft flown to Iran for safekeeping, hoping to use them later. Iran had agreed to accept Iraqi passenger planes, and Saddam gambled that it would also shelter his warplanes.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many Iraqi aircraft fled to Iran during Desert Storm?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Estimates differ. Iraq said 115 warplanes and 148 aircraft in total, US officials said 137, and the US Air Force Historical Research Agency counts 121 aircraft that reached Iran. One common tally of the warplanes lists 24 Mirage F1s, 24 Su-24s, 40 Su-22s, four Su-20s, seven Su-25s, 12 MiG-23s and four MiG-29s.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did US fighters shoot down Iraqi jets fleeing to Iran?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. F-15Cs flying barrier patrols on the Iranian border shot down several. On 6 February 1991, Capt. Thomas Dietz downed two MiG-21s and Lt. Bob Hehemann two Su-25s in seconds, and on 7 February F-15Cs shot down two Su-22s and an Su-7. Many others got through first.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What did Iran do with the Iraqi aircraft?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Iran said it would hold the aircraft until the war ended, then kept them, treating them as partial reparations for the Iran-Iraq War. 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Most of the other jets remained in Iran.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Can I fly in a MiG-21?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. MiGFlug offers supersonic MiG-21 flights from Tampa, Florida, in the two-seat version of the Mach 2 fighter, sitting directly behind the pilot. The MiG-21 is the most-produced supersonic jet in history, built in more than 11,400 examples. Details and booking: MiG-21 flight.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/desert-storm-opening-night-f117-apache-air-campaign-1991\/\">The Night That Rewrote Air Warfare: Desert Storm&rsquo;s Opening 14 Hours<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/jalil-zandi-iranian-f-14-tomcat-ace-iran-iraq-war\/\">Jalil Zandi: The Iranian Pilot Who Became the Top F-14 Tomcat Ace<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/mig-23-flogger-swing-wing-fighter-history\/\">MiG-23 Flogger: The Swing-Wing MiG American Pilots Feared<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/uss-stark-1987-exocet-attack-mirage-f1-falcon-50\/\">Nobody Agrees What Attacked the Stark<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During Desert Storm, well over 100 Iraqi Air Force jets fled to Iran, their enemy of eight years. Iran kept most of them as reparations.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":29390235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29390353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Iraqi Air Force Flight to Iran in 1991 | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How well over 100 Iraqi Air Force jets fled to Iran during Desert Storm in 1991, and why Iran kept most of them as war reparations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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