Former US Ambassador to Armenia named acting Assistant Secretary of State

Former US Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern has assumed the responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs after Victoria Nuland’s resignation.
John Heffern had been the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary since August 2015.
The assignment is tempoorary, he said in a Twitter post.

Thanks for all the good wishes. This is temporary assignment as the new team gets in place. Look forward to working w European partners.

— John Heffern (@AmbHeffern)

John Heffern, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia from 2011-2014. His prior experience included Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at USNATO, Brussels; DCM in Jakarta, Indonesia; and, Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.

Other previous posts include: USNATO; Tokyo; Malaysia desk officer in Washington; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Abidjan, Ivory Coast; and Guangzhou, China. From 1994-1996, Heffern served as a Pearson Fellow on the Asia Subcommittee for the House International Relations Committee.

Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Heffern served in the office of Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO) as the Senator’s Office Director and Research Assistant.

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS