Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died in the bombing of Iran over the weekend. Vali Nasr of Johns Hopkins University talks about Khamenei's role as one of the most influential Shia clerics in the world.
Limited flights out of the Middle East resumed on Monday. But hundreds of thousands of travelers are still stranded in the region after attacks on Iran by the U.S. and Israel.
The remarks are the first to reporters since the U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran began Saturday despite weeks of talks designed to stave off a conflict.
The war over Iran engulfed more of the Middle East and beyond on Monday as Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah responded to the killing of Iran's spiritual leader with its first attack on Israel in more than a year.
Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran on Monday.
The U.S. and Iran have a long history of tensions, including a CIA-led campaign to topple Iran's prime minister in 1953 and the taking of American hostages in 1979.
The high prices came as U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S. military installations around the Gulf sent disruptions through the global energy supply chain.
Fighting intensified in the Middle East during the Olympic truce, in effect through March 15. Flights are being disrupted as athletes and families converge on Italy for the Winter Paralympics.