Stephen Carroll

Meanwhile, officials in Tehran yesterday said the death toll in the country was already over 200, with that figure expected to rise significantly.

The Israeli military says it's starting an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In another sign, the conflict is spreading across the region.

Israel's chief of general staff, Eyal Zamir, warned citizens to be prepared for several days of fighting.

The message comes as the AFP news agency reports Israeli strikes this morning have killed more than 30 people in the country.

Speaking in Lebanon, speaking yesterday before the latest military action was announced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the US-Israel offensive.

Netanyahu there speaking via a translator.

The escalation comes after Hezbollah fired into Israel, saying it was acting in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

As the US and Israeli bombing of Iran continues, President Trump told ABC that his preferred candidates to lead the country were killed in the initial attack.

Iran has said it hopes to elect a new supreme leader within the next few days, according to a foreign ministry spokesman who spoke to NPR today.

The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has thrown the country's future leadership into question.

Khamenei did not publicly designate a successor.

Wendy Sherman, former US Deputy Secretary of State, says Iran's regime will be extremely hard to dislodge.

Wendy Sherman's words came as it was reported that Trump has agreed to talk to Iran's new leadership.

The Atlantic quotes a conversation with the US President in which he said, they want to talk and I have agreed to talk without specifying who that might be.

Iran's National Security Chief posted on social media saying that Iran will not negotiate with the United States.

European gas prices have surged over fears of disruption to the transport of liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz off Iran's coast.

The Dutch TTF benchmark is up by over 22% this morning.

UK prices are up by 26%.

Bloomberg's Tiwa Adebayo has more.