During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq received large quantities of weapons and other material useful to the development of armaments and weapons of mass destruction.
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Military support
Iran was backed by the Kurdish militias of KDP and PUK in North Iraq, both organizations in fact rebelling against Iraqi Ba'athist government with Iranian support.
Logistic support
Iran's foreign supporters gradually came to include Syria and Libya, through which it obtained Scud missiles. It purchased weaponry from North Korea and the People's Republic of China, notably the Silkworm anti-ship missile. It also acquired arms from Portugal, notably after 1984. It also acquired propellants and other weapons related components from Spain and Portugal. The United States also provided covert support for Iran through Israel, although it is debated as to whether U.S. President Ronald Reagan actually ordered the sale of weapons to Iran. Most of this support included TOW missiles.
Military support
Iraq was supported by an Iranian outcast-armed party of Mujaheedin-e-khalgh, mainly engaging the pro-Iranian Kurdish forces in the North of Iraq, close to Iranian borders.
Logistic support
Iraq's army was primarily equipped with weaponry it had previously purchased from the Soviet Union and its satellites in the preceding decade. During the war, it also purchased billions of dollars' worth of advanced equipment from France, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, Germany and other sources. Iraq's three main suppliers of weaponry during the war were the Soviet Union followed by China and then France. It also acquired substantial arms from Portugal.
The United States sold Iraq over $200 million in helicopters, which were used by the Iraqi military in the war. These were the only direct U.S.-Iraqi military sales. At the same time, the U.S. provided substantial covert support for Saddam Hussien. The CIA directed non-U.S. origin hardware to Saddam Hussein's armed forces, "to ensure that Iraq had sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing the Iran-Iraq war." And "dual use" technology was transferred from the U.S. to Iraq.
Germany and United Kingdom also provided dual use technology that allowed Iraq to expand its missile program and radar defenses.
According to an uncensored copy of Iraq's 11,000-page declaration to the U.N., leaked to Die Tageszeitung and reported by The Independent, the know-how and material for developing unconventional weapons were obtained from 150 foreign companies, from countries such as West Germany, the U.S., France, UK, and the People's Republic of China.
Iraq's main financial backers were the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, most notably Saudi Arabia ($30.9 billion), Kuwait ($8.2 billion) and the United Arab Emirates ($8 billion).
The Iraqgate scandal revealed that an Atlanta branch of Italy's largest bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, relying largely on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteed loans, funneled $5 billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989.