Abbas was born a photographer. A member of the legendary Magnum Photo Agency, his work since 1970 covering wars and revolutions in Biafra, Bangladesh, Northern Ireland, Vietnam, the Middle East, Chile, Cuba, and South Africa during apartheid is well known.

Yet it is his work from Iran, his country of birth, that is transcendent. In an extraordinary body of work spanning from the 1970s to his return in 1997 after 17 years of exile, his photographs capture every level of Iranian politics and society – from the Shah and his men to the streets of Tehran.

To mark the launch of a website that brings together this body of work, Abbas will be joining us in conversation with journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari, who produced the website, to show and discuss his photographs. Chaired by CBS News correspondent, Elizabeth Palmer.

Photo: Tehran, Iran. Armed militants outside the United States Embassy, where diplomats had been held hostage since 4 November, 1979. In the background is a banner displaying the American Statue of Liberty.

After years of negotiations, world powers have reached a historic deal with Iran, limiting their nuclear activity in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions.

The deal has been met with a mixed response – some celebrate it as a diplomatic triumph, while others describe it as a precursor to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

For the first First Wednesday after the summer break we will be debating what the Iran deal means for the country, the region and relations with the West.

Chaired by Azadeh Moaveni, a former Middle East correspondent for Time magazine, she has reported on Iran and the region for much of the past decade. She is the author of Lipstick Jihad, Honeymoon in Tehran, and co-author, with Shirin Ebadi, of Iran Awakening.

The panel:

Kasra Naji is special correspondent for BBC Persian TV and author of Ahmedinejad: The Secret History of Iran’s Radical Leader.

Saeed Kamali Dehghan is a staff journalist with the Guardian. He has previously written from the Iranian capital, Tehran. He is now based in London and was named 2010 Journalist of the Year at the Foreign Press Association awards.

James Rubin is a writer, commentator and lecturer on world affairs and US foreign policy. He contributes a weekly column to The Sunday Times. He served under President Clinton as assistant secretary of state for public affairs and chief spokesman for secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright from 1997 to May 2000.

Con Coughlin is The Telegraph‘s defence editor and chief foreign commentator. He is the author of several books including Churchill’s First War: Young Winston and the fight against the Taliban, Saddam: His Rise and Fall, and Khomeini’s Ghost: The Iranian Revolution and the Rise of Militant Islam.

On 8 November, the people of Myanmar will go to the polls in an election that is being seen as a step towards full democracy after nearly half a century of military rule.

Myanmar has seen reforms come into effect since 2010, when military rule was replaced by a military-backed civilian government, but how far have these reforms gone and what more needs to be done?

One of the largest and once one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia, what impact have successive military regimes had on Myanmar?

With a panel of experts we will explore what life is like in Myanmar, the political and ethical divisions, and what change the election will bring.

Chaired by Paul French, an author and widely published analyst and commentator on Asia, Asian politics and current affairs. He is author of North Korea: State of Paranoia and the international bestseller Midnight in Peking.

The panel:

Hkanhpa Sadan is general secretary of the Kachin National Council, Kachin National Organisation. He is one of the founding members of the exile Kachin political movement based in the UK with branches across Europe, the US and Asia.

Dr Richard Cockett is editor and correspondent at The Economist. He is the author of several books, including Sudan: Darfur and the Failure of an African state and Blood, Dreams and Gold: The Changing Face of Burma.

Robert Cooper worked for ten years for the European Union High Representative, Javier Solana and later Catherine Ashton. From 2012 he served a further year as a special adviser on Myanmar. He served as a diplomat from 1970 to 2002, his posts included Tokyo, Brussels, Bonn, head of the policy planning staff and Asia director.

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon is a campaigns officer at Burma Campaign UK. She is the daughter of Mya Aye, one of the leaders of the 88-generation Students Group. Born in Rangoon – because of her father’s activities she faced harassment and discrimination and left the country in 2006 to continue her studies.

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT WILL BE FILMED AND STREAMED LIVE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Photo: Htoo Tay Zar. Aung San Suu Kyi greeting supporters from Bago State in 2011.

Now based in Delhi, Dalrymple joins us for a special event to discuss his most recent, acclaimed book Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42, the definitive analysis of the First Anglo-Afghan War. He will discuss parallels with current events in both Afghanistan and the UK, before taking questions from the audience.

A recipient of the Wolfson Prize, a Foreign Press Association Media Award and five honorary doctorates, Dalrymple is also a founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival. His previous books include The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 and Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India.

The event is the latest in a series of debates, talks and Q&As from the London Press Club, with previous speakers including Alan Rusbridger, Sarah Sands, David Dinsmore and India Knight. For more information visit londonpressclub.co.uk.

London Press Club members can reserve a free space by emailing info@londonpressclub.co.uk and can buy any additional tickets here.

All attendees are welcome to join the London Press Club for drinks in the clubroom before and after the talk, with first drinks (from 6.30pm) courtesy of Gorkana.

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT WILL BE FILMED AND STREAMED LIVE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

In late October, Camp Bastion, Britain’s biggest overseas base since World War Two, was handed over to Afghan control, marking the end of 13 years of British combat operations in Afghanistan. With countless civilian and military casualties, many will now be asking what has been achieved.

We will be joined by those who served in Afghanistan and the journalists who covered the country, to take a comprehensive view of the conflict from its inception after 9/11 to the withdrawal. Looking at the decisions that were made and the consequences of those actions, we will be examining the lessons that should be learned by British and coalition forces.

Chaired by David Loyn, the Afghanistan correspondent for the BBC. He is the author of Frontline: Reporting from the World’s Deadliest Places and Butcher and Bolt: Two Hundred Years of Foreign Engagement in Afghanistan.

The panel:

Jack Fairweather is currently a fellow of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University. He was the Daily Telegraph’s Baghdad and Gulf correspondent for five years. He is an expert on the American and British military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, and author of A War of Choice: Britain in Iraq 2003-9 and The Good War: Why We Couldn’t Win the War or the Peace in Afghanistan.

Mike Martin is a former pushtu-speaking British Army officer who spent almost two years in Helmand both serving and researching. During that time he also worked as an advisor to four senior British officers in charge of the British Helmand campaign. Last April, he published his history of the conflict, An Intimate War, in the face of an attempted ban by the Ministry of Defence.

Major General Jonathan Shaw recently retired from the British Army after 32 years during which time he commanded operations at every rank up to Major General. He has gained extensive operational experience in the Falklands, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is author of Britain in a Perilous World: The Strategic Defence and Security Review we need.

Jawed Nader is the director of the British & Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG). He has extensive experience of working with both Afghan civil society and the Afghan Government. Since 2002, he has been working on promoting civil society and good governance in Afghanistan. He has worked as Programme Adviser and Director of the Afghanistan Land Authority in the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture (2009-2011), and as Advocacy Manager with the Afghan Civil Society Forum (2002-2006).

Picture: UK Ministry of Defence

In May 2014, Thailand underwent its 12th successful military coup since the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1932. This time, there has been no promise of a quick return to civilian rule; a spokesperson for the National Council of Peace and Order has stated that in Thailand’s current situation, normal democratic principles cannot be applied. In August, King Bhumibol officially endorsed General Prayuth Chan-ocha as the country’s Prime Minister.

As the country’s plans for political reform begin to take shape, we will be discussing the normalisation of coups in Thailand, the problematic issue of the country’s ageing king and the perennial conflict between the Thai elite and the rural majority.

We will be joined by a panel of experts to examine the root causes of Thailand’s ongoing political crisis and what actions, if any, can be taken to resolve it.

Chaired by Simon Baptist, chief economist and Asia Regional Director at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The panel:

Andrew MacGregor Marshall is a journalist, political risk consultant and corporate investigator, focusing mainly on Southeast Asia. He spent 17 years as a correspondent for Reuters, covering amongst others conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and political upheaval in Thailand. He is author of A Kingdom in Crisis.

Claudio Sopranzetti is a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University All Souls College and the author of Red Journeys: Inside the Thai Red-Shirt Movement.

Eugénie Mérieau is a lecturer in political sciences and law at the University of Sciences-Po in Paris. She is also a political columnist for TV and print media. She recently published The Red-Shirts of Thailand.

Junya ‘Lek’ Yimprasert (via Skype) is a Thai labour rights activist who writes about exploitation at the bottom of supply chains. After the crackdown by military forces in Bangkok in May 2010 she wrote Why I don’t love the King and was charged with lès majesté. She is now a political refugee in Europe, she continues to denounce openly the military junta and interference of Monarchy in political life in Thailand.

Picture: Blanscape / Shutterstock.com

The politics of Iran are frequently analysed and debated on the international stage but rarely do we glimpse what everyday life is like in Tehran. In her new book City of Lies, Ramita Navai returns to the city where she was born to explore the lives of its residents.

Navai focuses on eight protagonists: a porn star, an ageing socialite, an assassin and enemy of the state who ends up working for the Republic, a volunteer religious militiaman who undergoes a sex change, a dutiful housewife who files for divorce and an old-time thug running a gambling den. Drawn from across the spectrum of Iranian society, their lives present a fascinating and intimate portrait of a complex, colourful and changing city.

Ramita Navai will be joining us in conversation with the BBC’s Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, to talk about her exploration of modern-day Tehran and what life in the city signals about how the country will develop.

Ramita Navai is a British-Iranian journalist and reporter for Channel 4’s foreign affairs series, Unreported World. Born in Tehran, she has reported from over 30 different countries, including Sudan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Nigeria, El Salvador and Zimbabwe. She was awarded an EMMY for her undercover report from Syria. She has also worked as a journalist for the United Nations in Pakistan, northern Iraq and Iran, and was the Tehran correspondent for The Times from 2003 to 2006.

https://soundcloud.com/frontlineclub/iran-a-new-chapter

In June 2013, Hassan Rouhani was elected president of Iran, running with a mandate of “moderation and wisdom”. He promised to free political prisoners and guarantee civil rights, to return “dignity to the nation”.

He has also made promises of reform, of saving the economy and working to lift international sanctions by ending the nuclear standoff. But in a country where the elected leader is overshadowed by the unelected Supreme Leader and the Council of Guardians, will Rouhani be able to bring about effective change?

As dialogue with the US and other world powers continues to improve, we will be exploring the changes this new leader is enacting both on the international stage and within Iran.

Chaired by Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News correspondent.

The panel:

Ramita Navai is a British-Iranian Emmy award winning foreign affairs journalist. She has reported from over 30 countries and has made 20 documentaries for Channel 4’s critically acclaimed current affairs series Unreported World. She was the Tehran correspondent for The Times from 2003-2006 and she has reported for the United Nations in Iran, Pakistan and Iraq. Her first book, City of Lies, about Tehran, will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2014.

Sir Richard Dalton was British ambassador to Iran 2002-2006 and is associate fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.

Kelly Golnoush Niknejad is founder and editor-in-chief of the award-winning Tehran Bureau, which is hosted by The Guardian. She is also the inaugural recipient of the Innovator Award from Columbia Journalism School for “inspiring, creating, developing, or implementing new ideas that further the cause of journalism”.

Arron Reza Merat was formally The Economist‘s Tehran correspondent and is currently working on Iran at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Shashank Joshi is a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and a doctoral student of international relations at Harvard University’s Department of Government. He specialises in international security in South Asia and the Middle East.

As the final stage of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan begins, we will be bringing together leading experts to look at the country’s roadmap and the legacy of the past 12 years.

How is the transition progressing and who are the main actors? We will be examining that process and the role of parties such as the Taliban. With continuing transition of security from NATO to Afghan leadership, we ask if the Afghans are ready and able to manage their country’s security.

Finally with an election approaching in early 2014 we will be looking ahead at the political process and which figures will play leading roles in Afghanistan’s future.

Chaired by Owen Bennett-Jones, freelance journalist and a host of Newshour on the BBC World Service. As a correspondent with the BBC he has reported from over 60 countries, he is author of Pakistan: Eye of the Storm and his first novel Target Britain. He has also written for the Financial Times, The Guardian, The New Republic and the London Review of Books.

The panel:

Dominic Medley was the Spokesman/Media Advisor to the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan from June 2010 to June 2013. He has worked in Kabul since February 2002 including two years with the UN Mission. He has been a leading figure in the development of journalism in Afghanistan and he is the author of the Kabul Guide.

Emal Pasarly is the multimedia editor for the BBC Pashto-Persian service. He was born in Northern Province of Kunduz, Afghanistan and as a result of the Russian invasion, his family migrated to neighbouring Pakistan. He moved to London in 1993 and began working with the BBC World Service in 1996. He also writes fiction in Pashto and has published two novels and four collections of short stories.

Michael Semple is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Conflict Transformation, Queen’s University, Belfast and affiliated to the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School. He conducts research on the Afghan Taliban Movement, conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan and approaches to reconciliation. He has specialised on Afghanistan and Pakistan since 1985 and speaks Urdu, Dari and Pashto. During this period he has worked with international NGOs, the United Nations and European Union, including serving as Deputy to the European Union Special Representative for Afghanistan 2004-08. Since 2008 he has worked as a scholar and adviser, focusing on opportunities to end the conflict in Afghanistan and the region.

Martine van Bijlert is co-director and co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN). She grew up in pre-revolutionary Iran and has spent large parts of her adult life working and living in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. She was a student researcher in Pakistan in the early 90s, a diplomat in Tehran from 2001-2004, and an aid worker from 1997-98. She served as EU political adviser from 2004-08 and has been an independent researcher in Afghanistan since 2007.

Quhramaana Kakar is a leading figure in Afghanistan working for women’s empowerment. She has served as gender advisor for the Afghanistan Peace and Reconciliation Program (High Peace Council). She has worked for women’s social and political empowerment, and leadership development at advisory senior level positions with USAID, UNIOM and other International organisations. Kakar is the founder of the organisation Women for Peace and Participation, which works for social inclusion of Afghans, inside and outside Afghanistan. She was the young ambassador of the US main aid organisation representing refugee women and is the winner of the United Nations 2012 Role Model for Peace award.

Picture courtesy of multimedia photojournalist John D McHugh

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https://soundcloud.com/frontlineclub/insight-with-wendy-law-yone-a

In 1948, as Burma gained independence, a young man named Ed Law-Yone founded The Nation newspaper. It went on to become Burma’s leading English-language daily and a hugely influential voice in the country. Ed Law-Yone, the editor and proprietor, became a major player within the political elite, but following the military coup of 1962 the paper was closed and he was imprisoned.

After five years he fled to Thailand to form a government–in-exile and to try to ignite a revolution. He was unsuccessful and later settled in the US where he died in 1980. He did not live to see the Burma he dreamed of but he entrusted his daughter, Wendy Law-Yone, to tell his remarkable story.

It was not until 20 years after his death that Wendy Law-Yone found the confidence to unearth her father’s manuscripts. She will be joining us in conversation with the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall to talk about the unique portrait of Burma she discovered.

Wendy Law-Yone was born in Mandalay, Burma, in 1947. She fled after the 1962 coup, settling in the US where she published two novels The Coffin Tree and Irrawaddy Tango. She came to the UK on a David T.K. Wong creative writing fellowship at the University of East Anglia, and has been here ever since. In 2010 she published her third novel The Road to Wanting and her memoir Golden Parasol: A Daughter’s Memoir of Burma has just been released.