International sanctions against Iraq

Events leading up to the Iraq War
14 July Revolution 1958 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict 1961–1991 17 July Revolution 1968 Iranian revolution 1978–1979 Ba'ath Party Purge 1979 Iran–Iraq War 1980–1988 Iraqgate 1982–c.1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait 1990 Gulf War 1990–1991 Sanctions against Iraq 1990–2003 Iraqi uprisings 1991 Iraqi no-fly zones conflict 1991–2003 Iraq disarmament crisis 1991–2003 Arms-to-Iraq affair 1992–1996 September 11 attacks 2001 U.S. anthrax attacks 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan 2001 Alleged Prague connection 2001 Iraq Resolution 2002 Wood Green ricin plot 2003 Colin Powell's UN presentation 2003
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On 6 August 1990, four days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) placed a comprehensive embargo on Iraq. The sanctions stayed largely in force until 22 May 2003 (after Saddam Hussein's being forced from power),^[1] and persisted in part, including reparations to Kuwait.^[2][3][4] The original stated purposes of the sanctions were to compel Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, to pay reparations, and to disclose and eliminate any weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

The UNSC imposed stringent economic sanctions on Iraq by adopting and enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 in August 1990.^[5] Resolution 661 banned all trade and financial resources with both Iraq and occupied Kuwait except for medicine and "in humanitarian circumstances" foodstuffs, the import of which was tightly regulated.^[5] In April 1991, following Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, Resolution 687 lifted the prohibition on foodstuffs, but sanctions remained in effect with revisions, including linkage to removal of weapons of mass destruction.^[6][7]

Despite the provisions of Resolution 706, Resolution 712, and Resolution 986, the UN and the Iraqi government could not agree on the terms of an Oil-for-Food Programme (OFFP), which effectively barred Iraqi oil from the world market for several years. When a memorandum of understanding was finally reached in 1996, the resulting OFFP allowed Iraq to resume oil exports in controlled quantities, but the funds were held in escrow and the majority of Iraq's purchases had to be individually approved by the "Iraq Sanctions Committee," composed of the fifteen members of the UNSC. (Additionally, some funds were withheld for Kuwaiti reparations.) The sanctions regime was continually modified in response to growing international concern over civilian harms attributed to the sanctions; eventually, all limitations on the quantity of Iraqi oil exports were removed (per Resolution 1284), and a large proportion of Iraqi purchases were pre-approved (per Resolution 1409), with the exception of those involving dual-use technology. In later years, Iraq manipulated the OFFP to generate hard currency for illegal transactions, while some neighboring countries began to ignore the sanctions entirely, contributing to a modest economic recovery. By reducing food imports, the sanctions appear to have played a role in encouraging Iraq to become more agriculturally self-sufficient, although malnutrition among Iraqis was nevertheless reported.

During the 1990s and 2000s, many surveys and studies found child mortality more than doubled during the sanctions,^[8][9][10] with estimates ranging from 227,000^[11] to 500,000^[12] excess deaths among children under the age of 5. On the other hand, several later surveys conducted in cooperation with the post-Saddam government during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq only document a "slight increase" in child mortality.^[13] Nevertheless, sanctions contributed to a significant reduction in Iraq's per capita national income, high rates of malnutrition, shortages of medical supplies, diseases from lack of clean water, lengthy power outages, and the near collapse of the education system—especially prior to the introduction of the OFFP.^[8][14][15] Most UNSC sanctions since the 1990s have been targeted rather than comprehensive, a change partially motivated by concerns that the Iraq sanctions had inflicted disproportionate civilian harm.^[16]