HIS MAJESTY Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, has presented the instrument of appointment to Tan Sri Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob as Malaysia’s new Ambassador to the United States.
The official ceremony took place at Istana Negara earlier today and was attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin and the Foreign Ministry’s secretary-general, Datuk Sri Amran Mohamed Zin, according to a post on the King’s official Facebook page.
Muhammad Shahrul Ikram, a former secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, succeeds Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, whose term ended on 8 February.
Originally from Pahang, Muhammad Shahrul Ikram holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Ecology from Universiti Malaya and is an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in the United States.
He began his diplomatic career in 1988 as an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer at the Foreign Ministry. Over the course of 35 years in public service, he has held a wide range of senior positions both at home and abroad.
From 6 January 2019 to 31 May 2022, he served as Chairman of the Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His overseas postings have included roles as Malaysian Ambassador to Qatar, Ambassador to Austria, and Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York.
Within the Foreign Ministry, he has held positions including Deputy Secretary-General for Bilateral Relations, Director-General of the ASEAN-Malaysia National Secretariat during Malaysia’s 2015 ASEAN Chairmanship, and Secretary of the Multilateral Political Division.
His diplomatic service has also taken him to Malaysian missions in Vienna, Washington, and Beijing. - June 3, 2025
