"Blood Rain' Stains Iranian Island Shores"

A startling red flood washed over an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf last month, creating a dramatic "blood rain" effect. The event occurred on December 16. Heavy rainfall swept soil and rocks rich in iron oxide across the island's landscape. Iron oxide is a naturally occurring mineral that gives the soil a deep red color. This runoff stained waterways and shores a vivid, unnatural crimson. Visitors to the area quickly nicknamed the phenomenon "blood rain." Experts confirm the event was purely geological. The intense color came from minerals in the earth, not from any biological source.