The US Senate approved the appointment of Robert Beecroft as its ambassador to Iraq. Beecroft has served at the US embassy in Baghdad since July 2011, first as the deputy chief of mission and from June this year as the charge d’affaires. A graduate of Brigham Young University Mormon (Utah) and Berkeley (California), Beecroft served as ambassador to Jordan from 2008 to 2011 after Saudi Arabia and Syria. US President Barack Obama nominated Beecroft after racy emails eliminated the choice of Brett McGurk, who withdrew his nomination in June.