Sir Richard is an associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa programme and a consultant and commentator on Middle East issues. He was a British career diplomat from 1970 to 2006. Between 1991 and 1992 he was a research fellow at Chatham House and published a study on security architecture for the Persian Gulf region. He was consul general in Jerusalem from 1993 to1997. In 1999 he re-established UK diplomatic relations with Libya, paving the way for the 2003 breakthrough on Libya’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). From 2002 to 2006, as ambassador to Iran, he played a role in European negotiations with Iran, including on prevention of an Iranian military nuclear capability.

From 2006 to 2010 he worked with the Libyan British Business Council as director-general. In 2008 he co-wrote the Chatham House Middle East programme report, Iran: Breaking the Nuclear Deadlock. He chairs Chatham House’s round table on Libya.