U.S. - IRAN RELATIONS, PAST AND PRESENT

DISCUSSION WITH VICTOR TOMSETH

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY:

Ambassador Tomseth was born April 14, 1941 in Eugene, Oregon and grew up in nearby Springfield. He received a bachelor of arts degree in history from the University of Oregon in 1963 and a master of arts degree in history from the University of Michigan in 1966. He also attended Cornell University’s Southeast Asian area studies program in 1972-73 and the Department of State’s Senior Seminar in National and International Affairs in 1981-82.

Following graduation from the University of Oregon, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal in 1964-65. He joined the United States Foreign Service in August 1966 and, after receiving Thai language training, was posted to Thailand the following year. In 1971 he returned to the United States, serving in the Department of State and spending an academic year at Cornell University until 1976. At that point, following Farsi language training, he was posted to Iran as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Shiraz. In February 1979, he transferred to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran where he served as Counselor for Political Affairs and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission. On November 4, 1979, he became one of 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days following the seizure of the U.S. Embassy by Islamic militants.

After his release in January 1981, Ambassador Tomseth attended the State Department’s Senior Seminar and then served two years as Director for India, Nepal and Sri Lanka in the State Department’s Near East and South Asia Bureau. In 1984 he was assigned to Colombo, Sri Lanka, as the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission to that country and the Republic of Maldives. In 1986 he returned to Washington to head the Office of Thailand and Burma Affairs in the East Asia and Pacific Bureau of the State Department. In 1989 he was assigned to Bangkok, Thailand, as Deputy Chief of Mission, the United States’ largest embassy in Asia. In 1993, he was nominated by President Clinton to be the United States Ambassador to Laos and was confirmed by the Senate. He served in that position until August 1996. He retired from the Foreign Service in September that year.

Since retiring, Ambassador Tomseth has remained active in international affairs, serving with the rank of ambassador as the Senior Deputy Head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Mission to Croatia in 1998-99, as the head of the OSCE’s Rapid Expert Assistance and Cooperation Teams task force in 2000. He also served as Senior Area Advisor for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York for the 1997 and 1999 General Assembly sessions. He currently works as an independent consultant for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), supporting the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s military exercise program.

Ambassador Tomseth has received a number of awards including the Department of State’s Award for Valor and the Wilbur J. Carr Award, the American Foreign Service Association’s Award for outstanding contributions in the field of diplomacy, the President’s Award for Meritorious Service, and the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand presented by the King of Thailand for his contributions to U.S.-Thai relations. Ambassador Tomseth speaks Thai, Lao, Farsi and French. He and his wife, Wallapa, have two children, Christopher and Aranya, and two grandchildren. They reside in Vienna, Virginia.