This study was conducted to assess the potential association between leptin (LEP) gene polymorphisms and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Iraqi patients. Genomic DNA was extracted from 120 diabetic subjects and 100 controls. Three specific PCR fragments were designed to flank three highly frequent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)s within LEP, rs11761556, rs12706832 and rs2167270. The amplified loci were genotyped by PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) followed by Sanger sequencing for representative genotypes. Logistic regression analysis was performed to detect the association between the targeted genetic variants and T2DM. PCR-SSCP genotyping showed three banding patterns for all three targeted SNPs. Individuals with the AA genotype in both rs11761556 and rs12706832 SNPs showed significantly higher (P<0.05) body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), fasting blood glucose (FBG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), insulin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) values than those with other genotypes. Association analysis revealed that individuals with the A allele exhibited a greater risk of T2DM. Data of the present investigation indicated that both rs11761556 and rs12706832 SNPs exerted a noticeable association with T2DM. The study suggests implementing both rs11761556 and rs12706832 SNPs in the early detection of T2DM.