On March 20, 2004, the USA and Britain are preparing a new UN resolution to allow the continuing presence of foreign troops in Iraq after June 30 when the Iraqi will regain sovereignty over their country. This is a direct consequence of the Spanish new prime minister decision to pull the Spanish soldiers out of Iraq if the UN does not approve their presence, and if the UN does not have a role in helping running the country. Other countries such as the Netherlands, Poland and South Korea have expressed their doubts too, and the coalition is in danger of collapsing. The Polish prime minister went so far as saying that it was misled on the reasons for going to war. The US and British's project would include giving the UN a role in overseeing Iraq's first democratic elections. Nato could also be given a role in security matters as it has in Afghanistan.

On April 12, 2004, Britain and the USA are pushing for a new UN resolution that would give the UN political leadership in Iraq after the handover of power on June 30. However the UN would have no control over the coalition troops there. India, Bangladesh and France have been approached but there is not agreement yet.

On May 15, 2004, discussions on a new UN Security Council resolution to cover the coalition forces in Iraq after June 30 are going on. The UN has decided not to send workers to help in the reconstruction until the country is safer. Even Lakhdar Brahimi, who is choosing the members of the future government, does not want to stay there after June 30.

On May 17, 2004, Downing Street is hopeful that the UN Security Council will soon adopt a new resolution covering the handover of power to the Iraqis on June 30. However there are still large disagreements on the amount of "sovereignty" to be transferred. The USA wants to retain military control and its influence over everything; in fact they only want to give Iraq "limited sovereignty". Some UN Security Council members, such as France, want a full transfer of sovereignty and the right to tell the coalition forces to leave Iraq when they want to. In Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi is drawing up the list of future ministers and hope to make their names public soon.

On May 18, major US allies said that they were getting frustrated by the limited amount of power that could be given to the interim Iraqi government on June 30. Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy, Poland, Ukraine, and Iraqi leaders among others, believe that near-full power should be transferred.

According to The Observer of May 23, 2004, the project of UN resolution will lift the arm embargo so that Iraq can buy all the arms they need to rearm their 80,000 soldiers so that they can take over when finally the coalition forces leave the country.

On May 24, 2004, the USA and the British presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council stating their views how Iraq should be run after June 30. Bush was also going to give an important speech on the subject. In the draft resolution the US and Britain asks the UN Security Council to endorse the formation of an interim Iraqi government by June 30, 2004; to welcome the decision of the coalition powers to end the occupation by June 30; to accept the timetable according to which the interim government will take power on June 30 and that democratic elections will take place by December 31 2004 and not later than January 31 2005; ask the UN to participate in the political process in Iraq; give the coalition forces authority to take the necessary measures to guarantee security and stability in Iraq; to review the mandate of the coalition forces every 12 months; to welcome the future contribution of troops by other nations; to decide that the interim government will manage the development fund. The main points are:
- The interim government will be un-elected and its members chosen by the UN. It will take charge of Iraq on June 30.
- Free democratic elections will take place before January 2005.
- US-led coalition forces will stay in Iraq for at least one year; there are no timetable for the troops to leave but hey could be sent home, in theory, by the government following the general elections.
It is not yet clear what other countries like France, Germany, Russia and China will make of it.

On May 25, 2004, President Chirac of France told president Bush that he is not fully satisfied with the content of the draft resolution presented by the USA and Britain to the UN Security Council. He wants a clearer definition of Iraq full sovereignty after June 30, a clarification of the status of the coalition forces in relation to the interim Iraqi government, and about who manage the oil revenue. Russia, China and Germany are saying more or less the same thing. The Iraqi Governing Council agreed with them and its defence minister, Ali Alawi, added that the foreign troops would be unnecessary in Iraq within one year. The British military authorities believe that they will stay there at least until 2006 and require about 3,000 more soldiers as soon as possible to be deployed in south central Iraq and also in Najaf. This shows that the new resolution could have a rough ride ahead.

On June 7, 2004, it looks like there is an agreement between all the county members of the UN Security Council to vote a resolution presented by the USA and Britain to clarify the way the transfer of power to the interim Iraqi government will be done on June 30. However we are at the fourth version of the resolution and this shows that the US and Britain had to accept some of the conditions imposed by France, Germany Russia and China.

On June 8, 2004, all members of the UN Security Council accepted the latest version of the US/British resolution defining how Iraq will be run after June 30. The authors had to rewrite it five times to please the other members. The final text is not very good but at least all the members thought that it was acceptable. France and other countries did not succeed to give the Iraqi interim government the power to veto any military operation of the coalition troops that they do not like but they got most of what they wanted.