United Nations sanctions against Iraq were imposed by the United Nations and the United States in 1990 following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and continued until the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. They were perhaps the toughest, most comprehensive sanctions in history, and have caused much controversy over the humanitarian impact, culminating with two senior UN representatives in Iraq resigning in protest of the sanctions.http://www.newstatesman.com/200410040012http://www.zmag.org/vonsponek.htm