The Security Council on Wednesday unanimously endorsed a UN probe into the scandal-ridden and defunct Iraq oil-for-food programme to be led by Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve chairman.
Volcker, along with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, had called for a resolution endorsing the investigation as a way to give it sound political footing and to encourage governments involved in the program to fully co-operate.
Russia, a leading player in the program that ended last year, initially argued a resolution was unnecessary on grounds the council had earlier written Annan a letter backing the investigation, a Russian diplomat said this week.
But Moscow dropped its opposition after Annan spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the weekend.