During the early stages of the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein imported a number of T-72 tanks from the Soviet Union and Poland.

[3] Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the new Iraqi Government acquired dozens of refitted T-72M1s from Hungary, in order to equip an armored brigade.

A 120 mm HEAT round from an Abrams impacted on the front of an Asad Babil turret at point blank range without producing a catastrophic kill.

The Iraqi engineers tested this reinforcement against captured Iranian 120 mm Chieftain tank guns in 1989, apparently with some success.

[32] Another six M1A1s were allegedly hit by Iraqi T-72 tank fire in the Gulf War official report, but the impacts were largely ineffectual.

[35] In addition to lack of range, exploding munitions facilitated by the design of the tanks' ammunition loading system were also an issue for Iraqi T-72s.

[36] During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Republican Guard's T-72s, most from the Medina Division, were deployed around Baghdad to attempt a last-ditch defense of the Baath regime.

[38] Such encounters exposed the poor marksmanship of Iraqi gunners, in part due to the shortage of modern night-vision and range-finder assets.

Nonetheless, one Bradley was largely disabled by a 125 mm round from an Asad Babil tank when Iraqi armoured troops attempted to attack their American opponents near Baghdad airport.

[40] The last operational T-72s acquired from the USSR and Poland were destroyed by the successive waves of American armored incursions on the Iraqi capital[41] or abandoned by their crews after the fall of Baghdad, several of them without firing a single shot.

In April of 2017, the pro-government Hashed al-Shaabi militia used Iraqi-modified T-72Ms against forces of the Islamic State in clashes around the ancient city of Hatra.

It was enlisted to retrofit and rebuild tanks already on duty in the Iraqi Army, such as T-54/55s, T-62s, and several hundred of Soviet and Polish T-72s,[47] imported during early stages of the war with Iran.

[47] A number of Iraqi officials such as Lt. General Amer Rashid, however, did not like the idea of being dependent on knockdown kits supplied by another country and pushed for the complete production of the T-72M1 tank instead.

[47] According to Polish officials, not a single T-72M1 had been assembled at the facility, even though in 1988, a supposedly locally produced T-72M was on display during an Iraqi arms show.

[49] Lion of Babylon T-72s were to be upgraded with the addition of laminated armor on the front slope and rear panels as protection against HEAT projectiles.

[50] These same sources claim the tank was also supposed to be provided with a better track protection against sand and mud than the Soviet T-72, by reducing the original number of shock absorbers.