Quill Lawrence

Yesterday, there was a ceasefire announced between Israel and Lebanon.

Iran then announced it would open the strait for commercial traffic for the duration of that ceasefire, though only along this prescribed route close to the Iranian coast.

But then the U.S.

said it would still maintain its total blockade of Iranian ports while these peace talks continue.

And perhaps in response today, Iran's military said that the strait, no, is closed until the U.S.

lifts the blockade.

So it's been a confusing 24 hours.

Iran has announced that it's reopened it to commercial shipping, so long as that shipping is on this narrow route that previously was delineated by Iranian authorities.

Iran's foreign minister said on social media that this was in response to the ceasefire with Israel.

And oil prices dropped right after, but shipping companies are bound to be a little bit cautious as they assess the risks of going through a strait that everyone feared the Iranians had mined.

This week on Consider This, NPR investigates a Republican lawmaker from New Hampshire.

He officially proposed a known Holocaust denier join a state commission overseeing history lessons in public schools.

A story about extremism normalized and creeping into mainstream politics.

This week on Consider This, listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

U.S.

Central Command states on social media that no vessels headed to or from Iran have passed the Strait of Hormuz since the American blockade began, and that six merchant ships had obeyed U.S.

orders to return back to Iranian ports.

CENTCOM says the blockade will be enforced against any nation's ships and allows free navigation in and out of the Persian Gulf,

except for Iranian ports.

Iran, for its part, has effectively blocked any other commerce through the Strait for weeks, with the mere threat of Iranian mines and drone attacks keeping all but a trickle of shipping anchored in the Gulf.