Once the Security Council is satisfied with Iraq's compliance, the sanctions can be lifted. The lifting of the sanctions is directly controlled by the Security Council. No one contemplated the scope of Iraq's weapons program or Iraq's tenacity in maintaining its capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction. Likewise, no one imagined the level of compliance that Security Council members would demand. In September, the Security Council, under an initiative from the United States and England, unanimously voted to suspend the sanctions review process.
Sanctions are now in place indefinitely, with no review process scheduled for their suspension .