Jackie Northam

Navy boarded a second ship carrying oil from Iran that was bound for China.

Jackie Northam, NPR News.

There are no reliable numbers as to how many mines are in and around the Strait of Hormuz, but the threat of one hitting a ship is enough to keep some vessels anchored.

The Washington Post reported that a classified Pentagon assessment shared with Congress says it could take up to six months to clear the strait, and that such an operation wouldn't begin until after the war.

President Trump dismissed that assessment and said in a social media post that U.S.

minesweepers had already started clearing the strait.

Meanwhile, the U.S.

Navy boarded a second ship carrying oil from Iran that was bound for China.

Jackie Northam, NPR News.

There are no reliable numbers as to how many mines are in and around the Strait of Hormuz, but the threat of one hitting a ship is enough to keep some vessels anchored.

The Washington Post reported that a classified Pentagon assessment shared with Congress says it could take up to six months to clear the strait, and that such an operation wouldn't begin until after the war.

President Trump dismissed that assessment and said in a social media post that U.S.

minesweepers had already started clearing the strait.

Meanwhile, the U.S.

Navy boarded a second ship carrying oil from Iran that was bound for China.

Jackie Northam, NPR News.

Iran says that a ceasefire is meaningless unless the U.S.

blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is lifted.

And, you know, Iran sees the blockade as an act of war and will continue to control the international waterway.

I spoke with Suzanne Maloney, and she's an Iran specialist at the Brookings Institution.