The inspections started in 1991, right after the Gulf War. One of the conditions for the ceasefire was that Iraq had to do away with all of its weapons of mass destruction - biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

Early life and career
Blix was born in Uppsala Sweden. Gold Medal for distinguiHans Blixd service in the field of nuclear affairs by the Uranium Institute (now World Nuclear Association) in 1997. In December 2006 the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission said in a report that Pakistan's infamous and controversial scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan could not have acted alone or "without the awareness of the Pakistan Government".

Blix was also the head of the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission from March 2000 to June 2003 when he was succeeded by Dimitris Perrikos. In 2002 the commission began searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction ultimately finding none.