Good morning from the Financial Times.

Today is Monday, March 9th, and this is your FT News briefing.

Iran names its new Supreme Leader, and global oil prices rocket past $100 a barrel.

Plus, worries are mounting about the Iran war's impact on food supplies.

We'll see the amount of food that is produced dropping, and that's a really big problem.

We could really see this contributing to hunger.

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

Iran's senior clergy have picked Moshtaba Hamenei as the country's next supreme leader.

He is the second son of Ayatollah Ali Hamenei, who ruled Iran for nearly four decades and was killed in U.S.

and Israeli air strikes last Saturday. The Assembly of Experts is the body responsible for the appointment. It said a majority of members voted for Hamenei in the early hours of Monday

to become the third leader of the Islamic Republic. Hamenei is largely unknown to many

Iranians, but he had backing of regime loyalists and had been a leading candidate to replace his

father. Hamenei's appointment is seen as an act of defiance against U.S. President Donald Trump,

who last week called him a, quote, lightweight. It's also viewed as a signal that the

Islamic Republic will maintain its hardline policies toward the U.S., Israel, and the West.

Global oil prices surged as much as 20 percent in early Monday trade, topping $110 a barrel,

as the Middle East's largest producers curb their output while the war in Iran continues.

It's the first time both the Brent and West Texas benchmarks have hit triple digits in nearly four years.

Goldman Sachs predicts oil could continue rising

and exceed its 2008 peak above $140 if energy shipments do not resume through the Strait of

Hormuz. That waterway moves a fifth of the world's oil supplies. Last week, Qatar's energy

minister told the F.T. That disruption could, quote,

...