Brent Christensen next US envoy to Bangladesh

US President Donald Trump has nominated Brent Christensen, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, to serve as the next US ambassador to Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has appointed Tareq Md Ariful Islam, a career diplomat, as Bangladesh's next ambassador to the US.

Brent Christensen, hailing from Virginia and holding the class of Counselor, has been chosen to assume the role of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Bangladesh, according to a White House statement.

The appointment is finalised after the Senate hearing.

The post of US ambassador remained vacant for more than a year after the former ambassador Peter Haas resigned in mid-June last year. He served here about three years.

Since then, Helen LaFavre, deputy head of the US mission, and then Megan Bouldin, also deputy chief of the mission, had held the post of Chargé d'Affaires.

Tracey Ann Jacobson has been CDA at the US embassy in Dhaka since January 11 this year.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam, who served as the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN Offices in Geneva, has been appointed next ambassador to the US.

The post has remained vacant for months since Ambassador Asad Alam Siam was appointed foreign secretary in June.

A senior official at the foreign ministry told UNB yesterday that Tareq has moved out of Geneva to Washington DC.

Tareq served as Bangladesh envoy to Sri Lanka before his appointment as Bangladesh envoy to the UN offices in Geneva in June 2024.