Secretary-General Appoints Mohamed al Hassan of Oman Special Representative for Iraq

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Mohamed al Hassan of Oman as his new Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).  He succeeds Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert of the Netherlands, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and leadership of UNAMI.

Mr. Al Hassan brings to the position a broad range of diplomatic experience with a career spanning over 30 years working on preventive diplomacy, peacebuilding and development.  Most recently, he has served as the Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in New York since 2019.  Prior to that, he held various assignments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Muscat, including Acting Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs (2016), Chief of Staff (2015) and Head of the Minister’s Department (2012).

Among various senior-level positions, Mr. Al Hassan served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Oman to the Russian Federation and concurrently as non-resident Ambassador to Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia and the Republic of Moldova.  Mr. Al Hassan also previously held the position of Deputy Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in New York.  Prior to this, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in Geneva.

Mr. Al Hassan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Washington in Seattle, United States, a Master of Science degree in international relations from St. John’s University in New York, and a PhD in economics from Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics in the Russian Federation.  He speaks Arabic, English, Norwegian and Russian.

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* This supersedes Press Release BIO/5243 of 21 August 2019.