Newscast

Today, the new Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, gave his first statement pledging to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
This was delivered not by Khamenei himself, but by a newsreader on Iranian state TV speaking over a photo of him, sparking further speculation as to his health and whereabouts.
Alex and James are joined by Jane Corbin, Panorama film maker, and Baran Abbasi, reporter and presenter for BBC Persian, to discuss what to make of the new Supreme Leader’s statement.
Plus, diplomatic correspondent, James Landale, joins Alex and James from Kyiv to analyse what the US-Israeli war with Iran means for the war in Ukraine and how President Zelensky and President Putin have responded.
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Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.
New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were James Cook and Alex Forsyth. It was made by Anna Harris with Shiler Mahmoudi and Harry Craig. The social producers were Joe Wilkinson and Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The technical producer was Rohan Madison. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

The government releases documents about appointing Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador.

Today, President Trump has told reporters Iran war will be over “very soon”, but not this week.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says this will be the “most intense” day of US strikes on Iran so far. So how close is the war to ending?
Alex and James are joined by Caitríona Perry, Chief Anchor of BBC News in Washington, to try to decode what Trump might mean.
Meanwhile, Trump has also threatened Iran with "death, fire, and fury" if it continues to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which carries around a fifth of global oil supplies.
Michelle Wiese Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward, joins Alex and James to explain why the Strait is so vital.
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord
Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.
New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was James Cook and Alex Forsyth. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Anna Harris and Harry Craig. The social producer was Sophie Millward. The technical producer was Philip Bull. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Today, the Iran war has pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
James and Alex are joined by Dharshini David, deputy economics editor, and Katya Adler, Europe editor and Brexitcast veteran, to discuss what the war means for the global economy and how the surging oil price might lead to higher inflation.
Katya’s new series ‘Europe on the Edge’ is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now.
Meanwhile, in Iran Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the previous supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has been named as his successor.
Siavash Ardalan, senior reporter for BBC World and BBC Persian, joins James and Alex for a profile of the man now in charge of the Islamic Republic.
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord
Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.
New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Alex Forsyth and James Cook. It was made by Anna Harris with Shiler Mahmoudi, Jem Westgate and Harry Craig. The social producer was Grace Braddock. The technical producer was Jack Graysmark. The assistant editor was Jack Maclaren. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Today, we look at the extent to which the lessons learned from the Iraq war has shaped the UK's response to the war in Iran.
Keir Starmer has taken a position somewhere between full support of Donald Trump’s actions, and direct criticism of them.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president criticised the UK for being less than 100% supportive, saying ‘we will remember’ and "We don't need people that join Wars after we've already won!"
On Friday, former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair told a private event that the UK should have backed the strikes from the beginning.
But is Keir Starmer’s decision making being guided by some of the failures of the 2003 Iraq war, which Blair led the UK into?
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.
You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord
Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [email protected] or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.
New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd
Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC.
The presenters were Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn with Chloe Scannapieco. The social producer was Joe Wilkinson. The technical producer was Phil Bull. The weekend series producer is Chris Flynn. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.