Global Diplomacy Lab

Imran Simmins is a South African diplomat and holds an MA in International Relations and Affairs from the University of Leicester. His thesis focused on the impact of technology on international relations. He currently holds the position of First Secretary (Political) at the South African Embassy in Saudi Arabia where he developed the policy and structure for the South African Business Forum in Riyadh.

Prior to this, he served as an official in South Africa’s Foreign Ministry, covering issues related to South Africa’s position on science and technology in a multilateral organisation such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). Before that, he served as First Secretary (Political) at the Embassy of South Africa in Berlin, Germany, from 2014 to 2017; as Desk Officer for the National Office for Coordination of Peace Missions, as well as on the USA Political Bilateral Desk. His first diplomatic posting was as First Secretary (Political) at the South African Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, from June 2007 to July 2011, where he dealt with a range of issues from serving on the secretariat of the South African Mediation Team to dealing with the land issues in Zimbabwe as they affected South Africa.

Throughout his teenage years, he took up various leadership positions as a student activist in organisations that stood up against apartheid and any other forms of injustice. To this day, he holds and maintains these values.