February 1991 Kuwait freed as Gulf War ends. Iraq subject to weapons inspections and UN sanctions
August 1991 UN Security Council requires Iraq to disclose all chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs
July 1992 UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission) inspection team refused access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture
15 October 1994 UN orders Iraq to withdraw military units near Kuwait border
March 1996 UNSCOM teams denied access to five Iraqi sites
13 June 1996 Team denied access to military sites
November 1996 Iraq stops UNSCOM inspectors from taking missile components for analysis
February 1997 Iraq allows UNSCOM to remove missile components
21 June 1997 UN insists Iraq allow arms inspectors access to sites
29 October 1997 Iraq expels US members of UNSCOM inspection team
20 November 1997 US members of UNSCOM return to Iraq
13 January 1998 Iraq says UNSCOM team includes too many US and British members and accuses Scott Ritter of spying. The following week inspection teams are denied access to presidential sites.
February 1998 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan negotiates arms inspection deal with Saddam Hussein
5 August 1998 Iraq demands that UN lifts the oil embargo and reorganises UNSCOM
31 October 1998 Iraq refuses to cooperate with UNSCOM
November 1998 Inspections resume
16 December 1998 UNSCOM personnel withdrawn from Iraq
30 June 1999 Richard Butler ends his time as executive chairman of UNSCOM
17 December 1999 UN replaces UNSCOM with the UN Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). Iraq rejects the resolution
1 March 2000 Hans Blix becomes executive chairman of UNMOVIC
November 2000 Iraq rejects new proposals for weapons inspections
3 May 2002 Talks between UNMOVIC and Iraqi officials
July 2002 Talks end without agreement on arms inspections
1 August 2002 Iraqi government invites Hans Blix for “technical talks” on disarmament issues
6 August 2002 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan writes to the Iraqi leadership, asking them to accept inspections in accordance with UN resolutions
12 September 2002 President Bush argues for a new UN Security Council resolution on Iraq. The US pushes for action, warning that it is willing to act independently of the UN 16 September 2002 Iraq agrees to unconditional return of UN inspection teams
8 November 2002 UN Security Council resolution requires Iraq to submit a full weapons declaration and to cooperate with UNMOVIC and the IAEA. It warns of “serious consequences” for material breaches of the resolution.
13 November 2002 Iraqi government accepts UN resolution
18 November 2002 Weapons inspectors return to Iraq
9 January 2003 Weapons inspectors report to UN Security Council that Iraq illegally acquired engines and other missile components, but they do not believe these were used to try to develop nuclear weapons
17 January 2003 Inspectors uncover chemical shells in Iraq. Further tests may reveal if the 11 empty warheads are a “material breach” of UN resolutions
27 January 2003 Hans Blix’ report criticises Iraq for not coming to a genuine acceptance of the disarmament demanded of it and not accounting for stockpiles of banned weapons
28 January 2003 Inspectors reveal prohibited Iraqi missile tests. Documents uncovered in Iraq show two types of missile were tested beyond the 150 km limit set by UN sanctions
5 February 2003 Communication intercepts, surveillance images and defector testimony show that Iraq is defying the UN, says the US Secretary of State
13 February 2003 An expert panel assembled by UN weapons inspectors confirms earlier suggestions that Iraqi missiles breach UN sanctions. Iraq insists the missiles are not designed to travel beyond the 150km limit
7 March 2003 Chief UN weapons inspector suggests a 29-point timetable taking “months” to settle whether Iraq is cooperating over disarmament
11 March 2003 A last-ditch effort to unite the UN Security Council centres on the technical details of weapons Iraq has yet to account for
17 March 2003 UN weapons inspectors told to leave Iraq. The US advice that inspectors should evacuate Baghdad is a clear sign that military action is imminent