Oil-for-Food Program Overview
Structure and Accomplishments Before the 2003 War
The establishment of the Oil-for-Food Program reflected a longstanding UN Security Council effort to alleviate human suffering in Iraq while pressing Iraq to comply with all relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The program was a temporary and limited exception to the international trade embargo imposed on Iraq by UN Security Council Resolution 661, adopted on August 9, 1990, one week after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Program Operations In order to ensure that only humanitarian objectives were served by the program, the Oil-for-Food Program placed substantial controls on Iraqi oil exports and humanitarian imports. Iraq’s state-owned oil…
