Good morning from the Financial Times.

Today is Thursday, March 5th, and this is your FT News Briefing.

The war in Iran is expected to last a while, and we'll take a look at how the country will choose its next supreme leader.

Plus, a collapsed London mortgage provider is raising questions about the asset-backed finance market.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

Israel expects the war in Iran to last weeks.

Current and former Israeli officials told the F.T.

That the country is preparing for a multi-week military onslaught alongside the U.S.

The mission to fully dismantle key pillars of the state, as well as the Revolutionary Guard.

But Israeli officials have not explained how they plan to lay the groundwork for the

Iranian regime to be overthrown or what might come after. In the meantime, the war is disrupting

shipping traffic in the street of Hormuz and sending insurance costs soaring. U.S. President

Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. Navy could guide trade through the critical oil passageway. Even still, the price of ensuring a ship is up 12-fold.

Who will become Iran's next supreme leader? That's the question on the minds of an 88-member

panel of religious experts who are tasked

with selecting a new ruler after Israel and the United States killed Ayatollah Ali Hamenei in a strike

last weekend. But whomever the council picks will likely become the next top target for U.S. or Israeli

missiles. The F.T's Tehran correspondent Najmey Puzorgmir has been following the story. She joins me now.

Hi, Najme. Hello. So tell me how far along this succession process is. Right now, the succession

process is happening in the middle of a war. And there is actually a real threat to the lives of

senior clergy if they try to all the session.

There is concern here that if they meet all in one place, they could be attacked by the US and Israel.

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