News,·24 Jun 2026,·32 mins

Available for over a year

The US is lifting its decades-long sanctions on Iran, without guarantees against its nuclear programme. We hear from Republican senators usually loyal to Donald Trump who are critical of Trump’s claims that America has won the war, and that Iran is “on the ropes”. In this episode, Sarah and Anthony look at how the US president is trying to convince Republicans and US voters, that it’s the right decision to allow Iran to make billions of dollars from selling oil, and that the regime won’t use it on their military or nuclear programme. Will this work on senate Republicans, where a measure has just been passed to limit Trump’s ability to restart his war on Iran? Also, as Trump blames continued high gas prices on the oil companies, will he convince voters their economic troubles are not his fault? Plus, is New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani starting a new socialist democrat movement across the city? A slate of socialist-leaning Democratic candidates he endorsed have achieved sweeping victories in the primaries. These include candidates who want to defund the police and are critical of the mainstream Democratic establishment. Is this a model the rest of the party might follow elsewhere in the United States? HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, Alix Pickles, Bethan Ashmead and Tom Gillett. The technical producer was Jonny Hall. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app. You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155 Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below. Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Top Comment: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001mssm Radical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd