Simon Shercliff (born 23 December 1972) is a British diplomat, and Ambassador to Iran.

Education and career

Shercliff was educated at Wells Cathedral School. He graduated from

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

in 1995, with a degree in Earth Sciences. Shercliff took up his first posting with the (then) Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2000, as a political officer in the Embassy in

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

, in 2000. He was subsequently deployed to

Baghdad, Iraq Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the list of largest cities in the Arab world, second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the ...

as Private Secretary to

Jeremy Greenstock Sir Jeremy Quentin Greenstock (born 27 July 1943) is a British retired diplomat, active from 1969 to 2004. Life and career Greenstock was educated at Harrow School and at Worcester College, Oxford. He was an assistant master at Eton College f ...

, who was the UK's Special Representative to Iraq. Later postings took him to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

and then to

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, as British Ambassador. He returned to London as Director of National Security for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in February 2018. In August 2021, he became the British Ambassador to Iran.

Honours

In December 2004, Shercliff was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the Civilian Honours list "in recognition of services to the reconstruction of Iraq and towards its transition to democracy". In the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

Shercliff was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) "for services to British foreign policy and National Security."

Family

He is married to Emma Louise Shercliff, and they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shercliff, Simon 1972 births Living people People educated at Wells Cathedral School Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge British diplomats Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Yemen Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Iran Civil servants in the Foreign Office