John Limbert recently retired as distinguished professor of international affairs at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. During a 34-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Iran from 2009 to 2010, and as ambassador to Mauritania between 2000 and 2003. From 1979 to 1981, Limbert was among 52 Americans held hostage after the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
