Muscat – US President Joe Biden announced a slate of new ambassador nominations last week, including for the posts at the US embassies in Oman and Jordan.

Ana Escrogima, who is currently serving as consul general of the US Consulate General in Montreal, Canada, is Biden’s choice for the US Ambassador’s position in Oman.

She previously worked with the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and as the deputy chief of mission at the Riyadh-based Yemen Affairs Unit. Ana will replace Ambassador Leslie Tsou in Muscat.

Former Rusk Fellow at the Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Ana has extensive experience abroad and in Washington, DC. She was the State Department’s UAE-based Arabic language spokesperson and served as the Public Affairs Officer in Algeria, where she was responsible for all bilateral, cultural and press engagements.

Ana served as a political officer at the US embassies in Iraq and Syria; she was the special assistant to former under secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, with responsibility for the Middle East issues – most notably the Iran nuclear negotiations.

For Jordan, veteran diplomat Yael Lempert has been chosen to be the new US ambassador. She is currently the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. She previously served as chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in London. Yael will replace Henry Wooster, who has been the ambassador in Amman since 2020.

Dorothy Shea, who is currently the US Ambassador to Lebanon, was nominated as the deputy US representative to the United Nations. Prior to Lebanon, her tenure at the State Department included postings in Egypt, Tunisia and Israel.