The Ambassador – designate of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Prof. Fazeeha Azmi, assumed duties at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tehran on 30 June 2026. 

Addressing the staff following the assumption of duties, Ambassador-designate outlined the priorities of the Government of Sri Lanka and noted the long-standing and friendly relations between Sri Lanka and Iran as well as the way forward to strengthen bilateral relations between    Sri Lanka and Iran, and with the accredited countries of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. She emphasized the need to intensify the promotion of trade, employment opportunities, education, pharmaceutical and culture between the two countries as well as the accredited countries. The Ambassador – designate underscored the urgent work to engage actively to rebuild and retain the tourism industry of Sri Lanka pertaining to Iran, in collaboration with Iranian outbound travel industry. She reiterated the importance of collective efforts by the entire Mission in achieving these objectives. 

Prof. Fazeeha Azmi is the first female Ambassador appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka to Iran.

Prof. Fazeeha Azmi is a senior academic, with a career spanning over 20 years in teaching, research, and scholarly work in the fields of youth, poverty and livelihood changes, women and migration, internal displacement, tourism, small-scale fisheries, urban cultural heritage and post-war development in Sri Lanka. She held appointments in Sri Lanka, India, Norway, Fiji, and Canada and contributed extensively to national and international research and academic collaborations.

Prior to being appointed as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Islamic Republic of Iran, she served as a Professor in Geography at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. Prof. Fazeeha Azmi earned her first degree in Geography with a First Class from the University of Peradeniya. She did her M.Phil in Social Change and PhD in Geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Norway.  She is a past pupil of Mawanella Zahira National School in Kegalle.

Embassy of Sri Lanka

Tehran 

02 July 2026