Herro Mustafa
United States Ambassador to Egypt
Assumed office
November 15, 2023
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byA. Elizabeth Jones
Chargé d'Affaires
United States Ambassador to Bulgaria
In office
October 18, 2019 – March 1, 2023[1]
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byJustin Friedman
Chargée d'affaires a.i.
Succeeded byKenneth H. Merten
Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Portugal
In office
July 2016 – September 26, 2019
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Succeeded byKristin M. Kane
United States chargé d'affaires to Portugal
In office
January 20, 2017 – August 25, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byRobert A. Sherman (as ambassador)
Succeeded byGeorge Edward Glass (as ambassador)
Coalition Provisional Authority Coordinator for Nineveh
In office
May 2003 – June 2004
Preceded byMisha'an al-Juburi
Succeeded byUsama Yousif Kashmula
(Interim Governor)
Personal details
Born1973 (age 50–51)
Erbil, Iraq
Alma materGeorgetown University
Princeton University

Herro Kader Mustafa Garg[2][3] (Kurdish: Hêro Mistefa; born 1973) is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Egypt since November 2023. She served as the United States ambassador to Bulgaria from October 2019 to March 2023.

Early life and education

Mustafa was born in Erbil, in Kurdistan Region, Iraq, to a Kurdish family and spent two years of her childhood in a refugee camp.[4] Mustafa's family story was the subject of the documentary film American Herro. She is multilingual and speaks English, Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish and Greek.[5]

Mustafa's family sought asylum in the United States in 1976. Her father was a Kurdish political activist and an opponent of the regime of Saddam Hussein. The family was taken in by Zion Lutheran Church at Minot, North Dakota, in 1976.

Mustafa graduated from Minot High School in 1991 and earned her undergraduate degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1995 where she studied national security and the Middle East. She also received a master's degree in international relations from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1997.[3][6]

Career

After graduation, she directed a non-governmental organization for Kurdish studies in the U.S., traveled to Bosnia to supervise provincial elections and served as the Senior Editor for the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Mustafa joined the United States Foreign Service in 1999 and served in Athens (as a Political Officer for human rights and trafficking), Beirut (as a consular official), Washington, D.C. (as Iran desk officer at the National Security Council under Elliot Abrams), and special assistant to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns,[7] and Iraq (as Coalition Provisional Authority coordinator for Nineveh under L. Paul Bremer).[4][8]

Mustafa was senior advisor on the Middle East to Vice President Joe Biden from March 2009[9] to 2011.[10]

Mustafa once served as political minister counselor at the United States embassy in India, and has been Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Portugal from July 2016 to January 2017.[10]

She carries the rank of Minister Counselor.

United States ambassador to Portugal

Mustafa was United States chargée d'affaires in Portugal (i.e. acting ambassador) from the end of Robert A. Sherman's term as Ambassador on January 20, 2017[11] to August 25, 2017, when she was replaced by George Edward Glass also as ambassador.[12] She drew notice for being a Muslim former refugee serving the Donald Trump administration.[13]

United States ambassador to Bulgaria

In June 2019, President Donald Trump nominated Mustafa to be the United States ambassador to Bulgaria.[14] Her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 2019. She presented her credentials to President Rumen Radev on October 18, 2019.[15] She served until March 1, 2023.[1]

United States ambassador to Egypt

Herro Mustafa-Garg with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at meeting with Egyptian President El-Sisi in 2024

On March 29, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated her to serve as the U.S ambassador to Egypt.[16] On October 25, 2023, her nomination was reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Her nomination was confirmed by voice vote on November 1, 2023.[17] She was sworn in on November 7, 2023.[18] She presented her credentials on November 15, 2023.[19]

Awards and recognition

Mustafa has been nominated for the Department of State Human Rights and Democracy Achievement award and has received the Superior Honor Award and Meritorious Honor Award for her work.[5]

Personal life

She is married to Ravneesh Garg with whom she has had two daughters, Ariana and Ashna.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 "Biden to nominate Herro Mustafa Garg as US ambassador to Egypt: White House". www.aa.com.tr.
  2. ↑ "A Kurdish-American in Mosul". Middle East Research and Information Project. Summer 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Graduate Alumni Records, 1990-2021". Princeton University Archives. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Staples, David. "Refugee Finds Her Niche from the American Heartland to the Iraqi Homeland." State Magazine July/August 2004. United States Department of State, pp. 9–10.
  5. 1 2 "4 Days Left to Register for the Foreign Service Written Exam." United States Department of State, Office of the Spokesman. March 11, 2003.
  6. ↑ "North Dakota Filmmakers feature Condoleezza Rice in documentary project Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine." Communications Corps.
  7. ↑ Rosen, Steve. "Herro Mustafa appointed Biden's Mideast adviser." Obama Mideast Monitor, Middle East Forum. March 22, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Herro Mustafa MPA '97 of NSC keynote at WWS grad orientation." Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs 2005.
  9. ↑ Rozen, Laura. "More names: OVP, DoD." "The Cable" blog, Foreign Policy March 21, 2009.
  10. 1 2 "Deputy Chief of Mission Herro Mustafa". U. S. Embassy and Consulate in Portugal. U. S. Department of State. Retrieved October 13, 2017. Herro Mustafa began her tour in Lisbon, Portugal as Deputy Chief of Mission in July, 2016. Previously, she was the Political Minister Counselor at Embassy New Delhi [i.e., the United States Embassy in India].
  11. ↑ Cabrita-Mendes, André (January 6, 2017). "Embaixador dos EUA que apoiou a selecção parte com Portugal 'no coração'" [USA ambassador who supported the national team leaves with Portugal 'on [his] heart']. Jornal de Negócios (in Portuguese). Lisbon. Retrieved October 13, 2017. A embaixada norte-americana diz que a representação diplomática em Portugal vai ser feita pela ministra conselheira Herro Mustafa até que um novo Embaixador seja nomeado e chegue a Lisboa.
  12. ↑ "Ambassador George E. Glass". U. S. Embassy and Consulate in Portugal. U. S. Department of State. Retrieved October 13, 2017. George E. Glass of Oregon arrived in Lisbon on August 24, 2017 to serve as United States Ambassador to the Portuguese Republic. He presented his credentials to the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on August 25th, 2017.
  13. ↑ Rodrigues, Catarina Marques; Pina, Pedro; Piteira, Sara (April 12, 2017). "A representante de Trump em Portugal é muçulmana e ex-refugiada. 'Eu também sou a América'" [Trump's representative in Portugal is a Muslim and a former refugee. 'I too am America']. RTP (in Portuguese). Lisbon. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  14. ↑ US ambassador-designate to Bulgaria named. (June 18, 2019). Retrieved June 18, 2019, from The Sofia Globe website: https://sofiaglobe.com/2019/06/18/us-ambassador-designate-to-bulgaria-named/
  15. ↑ "Ambassador Mustafa Presents Her Credentials". U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019."Ambassador Mustafa Presents Her Credentials". U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  16. ↑ "President Biden Announces Intent to Nominate Key Role for the Department of State". The White House. March 29, 2023.
  17. ↑ "PN484 — Herro Mustafa Garg — Department of State 118th Congress (2023-2024)". US Congress. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Herro Mustafa Garg sworn in as new US ambassador to Egypt". EgyptToday. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  19. ↑ @USEmbassyCairo (November 17, 2023). "The U.S. Embassy Cairo community extends a warm welcome to our new Ambassador, Herro Mustafa Garg, and her family as they arrive in Cairo. We look forward to her leadership in enhancing the 🇺🇸 🇪🇬 partnership at a critical time. Marhaba, Madam Ambassador!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "Statement of Herro Mustafa Ambassador-Nominee to Bulgaria Senate Foreign Relations Committee". U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria. July 30, 2019.
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