Iran‘s Hormuz Island briefly turned bright red this week, as red soil flowed into the sea and turned the water shades of deep crimson.
Viral videos captured the moment pouring rain along the coast turned a deep reddish hue, flowing over cliffs, and flooding into the ocean.
The phenomenon paralleled depictions of ‘blood rain’ or red water in the Bible, which have historically been interpreted as signs of the End Time.
However, the red rain actually has a simple scientific explanation.
Previous research has confirmed the crimson waters are created by the Iranian island’s abundant iron-oxide-rich red soil.
Known locally as ‘golak,’ rains interact with this iron oxide, causing any water nearby to turn crimson as soil runoff washes into it.
Hormuz Island is geologically famous for its colorful mineral soils, earning it the nickname ‘Rainbow Island,’ and this runoff effect regularly occurs during heavy rainstorms.
Viral social media videos captured the moment in Iran this week as heavy rains transformed Hormuz Island and the Persian Gulf crimson red
Hormuz Island has been nicknamed ‘Rainbow Island’ because of its rich mineral content that can change the color of water during massive rainstorms
Hormuz Island’s unique chemical makeup formed over millions of years and contains layers of shale, clay, volcanic rocks, and over 70 minerals.
The dominant red coloring comes from the iron oxide, also known as hematite, which comes from the island’s volcanic deposits.
Hematite naturally appears red in its powdered form because it absorbs shorter wavelengths of green and blue light and reflects longer red wavelengths.
This scattering and absorption effect tints the water crimson when the particles mix with the rain and oceans during major weather events.
Videos posted on social media showed tiny waterfalls of crimson water cascading over the cliffs of Hormuz Island and landing on the shores below.
Many sightseers walked along the shore as the blood red tides washed over their feet as streams of soil runoff flowed into the Persian Gulf.
One X user used their foot to dig a small hole in the beach, revealing even more red soil just below the surface that the Gulf quickly washed over.
Others posted images of themselves with their hands and feet covered in the crimson soil, which stained everything it touched.
Soil runoff containing iron oxide has been blamed for the miraculous color change, which was eerily similar to depictions of the End Time in the Bible
Hormuz Island itself was not directly mentioned in the Bible, however, the broader region of ancient Persia, now modern Iran, appeared frequently in Scripture.
A key reference to this region of the ancient world came in Revelation 16:12, when the sixth bowl of wrath is poured on the Euphrates River, which sits on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf about 500 miles from Hormuz Island.
The End Time prophecy said this event would dry up the Euphrates ‘so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.’ This would lead to the gathering of kings for the battle at Armageddon in Revelation 16:16.
Some biblical scholars have interpreted the ‘kings from the east’ as global powers from this region, potentially including modern Iran as part of an eastern coalition in End Time events.
The Book of Exodus described the 10 Plagues of God. The first the curse saw the Nile’s waters struck by Moses’ staff at God’s command, turning them to blood in a divine act of judgment
Hormuz Island is not the only place in the Middle East which has seen water turn red in recent months.
In August, the biblical Sea of Galilee in Israel mysteriously turned a vivid blood red, leaving locals rattled and warning of a ‘bad omen.’
Israel’s environmental ministry confirmed that the transformation was caused by a bloom of green algae in the freshwater lake, which turns red when a natural pigment builds up under intense sunlight.
The pigment is harmless, officials stressed, and tests this summer showed the water was safe for swimming, despite its unsettling hue.
Tests by the Kinneret Research Laboratory found the algae in the affected areas was harmless as well, with no health risks or allergic reactions reported among those exposed.
Unlike the iron oxide in the soil of Iran, the transformation in Israel was caused by Botryococcus braunii, which is found in various aquatic environments like freshwater and brackish water bodies worldwide.