From Monday July 6th the secretariat of the FPA will be based in a small office at the Commonwealth Club at 25 Northumberland Avenue WC2N 5AP, a place well known to many members of the FPA. It is even closer to Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square than Carlton House Terrace.

Initially the FPA is renting an office for 6 months, with a view to forging a longer term relationship with the Commonwealth Club to maximize access for FPA members to their facilities. For the time being the office will be open to FPA members who wish to collect UK Press Cards, while the Commonwealth Club premises will be open to FPA members for FPA briefings there. Details of briefings will of course continue to be provided on the website, in the weekly Bulletin and by e mail.

As you will understand, moving from Carlton House Terrace after 60 + years has its challenges, and it may take us a few days to establish ourselves properly at our new base. The current telephone number, e mail and website addresses will all remain the same, and we would be very grateful for your continued patience and understanding as we sort things out.

Christopher Wyld, Director.

The FPA had the pleasure of welcoming the London Evening Standard's newly appointed Editor-in-Chief Geordie Greig to brief members about his recent accession to the paper.

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The Foreign Press Association today hosted a panel discussion analysing the results of the Iranian elections and the subsequent protests. The panel included Dr. Mehrdad Khonsari (Democratic Alternative for Iran), Ali Reza Nourizadeh, Rouhi Shafii (Iranian Women’s Coalition) and political blogger Potkin Azarmehr.

At a briefing at Chatham House organised jointly with the Foreign Press Association, senior Chatham House researchers offered their views on the extraordinary events taking place in Iran. Professor Ali Ansari, Director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at St Andrews University, described what was taking place as a crisis of authority, as distinct from a crisis of legitimacy. The elites in Iran were extremely divided, with clear internal divisions of opinion about the direction the Islamic Republic should take.