News story

Change of Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan

Mr Irfan Siddiq OBE has been appointed Her Majesty's Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
Irfan Siddiq

Irfan Siddiq

He will succeed Mr Peter Bateman, who has retired from the Diplomatic Service. Mr Siddiq will take up his appointment during August 2013.

Mr Siddiq joined the FCO in 1998 and has a wide range of overseas experience in India, Egypt, the United States, Syria and Iraq. Mr Siddiq has also served as Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, working with both Jack Straw and Margaret Beckett. His most recent position was leading the FCO’s response to the Arab Spring as Head of the Arab Partnership Department.

On his appointment as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr Siddiq has said:

I’m delighted to be appointed British Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a fascinating country. It has a rich cultural heritage, a dynamic economy and is of major strategic importance. I’m looking forward to living and working in Azerbaijan, getting to know Azerbaijan and its people and further developing UK-Azerbaijan relations to best promote UK interests and values.

Curriculum vitae

Full name: Irfan Siddiq OBE

Date Role
Jun 2011 – present FCO, Head, Arab Partnership Department
Sep 2010 – Jun 2011 Baghdad, Deputy Head of Mission
Jun 2007 – Jun 2010 Damascus, Deputy Head of Mission
Feb 2005 – Mar 2007 FCO, Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary
Aug 2004 – Feb 2005 Washington, secondment to US State Department as Political Officer
Jun 2003 – Jun 2004 Baghdad, Political Officer, Coalition Provisional Authority
Jun 2002 – Jun 2003 Cairo, Second Secretary (Political/Press)
Nov 2000 – Jun 2002 Full time language training (Arabic)
Aug 2000 – Nov 2000 FCO, Desk Officer, Middle East Peace Process Section
Oct 1999 – Aug 2000 New Delhi, Second Secretary (Economic/Commercial)
Sep 1998 – Oct 1999 FCO, NATO Desk Officer
1998 Joined FCO

Further information

UK and Azerbaijan

Follow the Foreign Office on twitter @foreignoffice

Follow the Foreign Office on facebook and Google+

Subscribe to the announcements feed or email alerts to get our latest news and announcements

Updates to this page

Published 9 July 2013
Last updated 17 October 2013 + show all updates
  1. minor change

  2. First published.