Connect with us

Headline News

Defense Department Says Iranian Confrontations With US Navy Up 50 Percent This Year

Dangerous confrontations between Iranian and American warships in the Persian Gulf are up more than 50 percent in 2016

Published

10 years ago

on

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

Dangerous confrontations between Iranian and American warships in the Persian Gulf are up more than 50 percent in 2016 compared with this time last year, according to a U.S. defense official – despite the highly touted nuclear accord, as well as a recent $1.7 billion U.S. payment to Tehran.

The latest incidents of provocative Iranian behavior flared in the Persian Gulf earlier this week, including one filmed by the U.S. Navy. The video showed four Iranian gunboats from its Revolutionary Guard Corps coming within 300 yards of USS Nitze, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

The incident was part of a troubling pattern, according to stats shared with Fox News.

In 2015, there were roughly 30 dangerous interactions between Iranian and U.S. Navy warships in the Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. The Iranian vessels acted as the aggressors every time, the Navy says.

Iranian vessels harass US Navy destroyer in Strait of Hormuz:

Yet already this year, that number is at least 30. Through the first six months alone of 2016, there were 26 dangerous confrontations that U.S. military officials called “unsafe and unprofessional.”

“We are on pace to exceed last year’s numbers by more than fifty percent,” the defense official told Fox News, while saying the confrontations have risen by that much so far.

Overall encounters involving Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps fleet of largely fast-boats also have increased significantly, corresponding to the spike in dangerous interactions.

In the incident captured on video – one of four such incidents this week – the U.S. destroyer fired flares, increased speed and took evasive maneuvers, while the Iranian ships ignored calls on the radio to stop. Cmdr. William Urban, a spokesman for the Navy’s 5th Fleet, called the actions “unsafe and unprofessional.”

The next day in a separate incident in the northern Persian Gulf, the USS Squall, a coastal patrol ship, fired three warning shots from its .50 caliber machine gun when one Iranian ship came within 200 yards.

This comes after Iranian gunboats from the IRGC in January seized 10 U.S. Navy sailors after their two patrol craft drifted into Iranian waters near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf. They were released the following day.

U.S.: Navy fired warning shots at Iranian boat

In December, Iranian missile boats fired a burst of unguided rockets near a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Navy called the act “highly provocative” at the time.

Together, the incidents have stoked concerns that little has changed with Iran despite the nuclear accord.

“Iran’s behavior hasn’t significantly changed as a result of the nuclear agreement,” Gen. Joseph Votel told Fox News in Baghdad last month, while Fox News was traveling with the general responsible for American forces in the region.

During a visit to USS New Orleans, a Navy amphibious transport ship going through the Strait of Hormuz, an Iranian missile ship and three other fast-boats shadowed the U.S. warship with Votel and four reporters aboard, including Fox News.

“What concerns me is our people don’t always have a lot of time to deal with those interactions,” Votel said. “It’s measured in minutes to really have the opportunity to make the right decision.”

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal first reported that the U.S. paid Iran $400 million in January, as four Americans were being released from the country. The administration denied the money was ransom but conceded it was used as leverage to secure the release. Technically, the money was part of a $1.7 billion payment, apparently to resolve a longstanding financial dispute.

In July, two days before the one-year anniversary of the nuclear agreement, Iran also attempted to launch another ballistic missile in violation of a United Nations resolution.  The launch, first reported by Fox News, failed after the missile exploded shortly after take-off according to U.S. defense officials. The missile was based on a North Korean BM-25 Musudan missile, which has a maximum range of nearly 2,500 miles, putting U.S. forces in the Middle East and Israel within reach, officials tell Fox News.

This week, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said his warships would continue to confront any U.S. Navy ship near Iran’s territorial waters.

“If an American ship enters Iran’s maritime region, it will definitely get a warning. We will monitor them and, if they violate our waters, we will confront them,” he said according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

Asked to respond to Dehghan’s comments at a press briefing Thursday, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said, “[W]e certainly hope it doesn’t continue, because it serves no purpose other than to raise tensions in an important part of the world; and tensions that we don’t seek to have escalated.”

Iran’s defense minister is a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who plotted the 1983 the U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, killing 241 U.S. military personnel.

Earlier this week, the State Department put out a new travel warning to American citizens warning them about “the risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens” by Iran. source

Related Topics:
Comments

Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s Iran War Sparks Stunning House Rebuke As Republican Defectors In Congress Expose Deep Cracks In The ‘America First’ Movement

Published

1 day ago

on

June 4, 2026

By

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

‘America First’ Fractures As House Congressional Republicans Join Democrats To Rebuke Trump Over His Unauthorized Iran War

The House vote to rebuke Trump over the Iran war is not merely a “symbolic” slap on the wrist — it is a warning flare from deep inside his own political camp. When Republican leadership has to argue that Congress exercising its constitutional war powers would “weaken the president’s hand,” what they are really admitting is that Trump’s hand is already weak. A strong president does not need Congress to surrender its authority in order to look strong at the negotiating table. The facade is slipping.

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” Jeremiah 17:5 (KJB)

The resolution passed 215–208, with four Republicans joining Democrats to demand that Trump seek congressional authorization or withdraw from military action in Iran. That does not mean the entire Republican Party has abandoned him, but it absolutely means the old automatic loyalty is cracking. The vote came after earlier failed attempts, making this one politically significant because enough Republicans finally broke away to put it over the top. What makes this so damaging is the contradiction at the heart of Trump’s political brand. He ran as the man who would end endless wars, drain the swamp, confront the foreign policy establishment, and put America First. Yet here he is, presiding over another Middle East war, with Congress now having to drag the White House back toward the Constitution. That is not strength. That is the very Washington war machine Trump once promised to defeat.

These GOP defectors are not simply siding with Democrats. They are exposing a fault line inside the MAGA movement itself. Is “America First” a real doctrine, or just campaign-stage decoration that gets tossed aside the moment the drums of war start beating? If Trump can wage war with Iran without clear congressional authorization, then the constitutional conservative argument collapses into personality worship. Republican leaders claim this vote weakens Trump in negotiations with Iran. No — the war weakened him. The rising costs weakened him. The lack of a clean exit weakened him. The failure to secure a durable settlement weakened him. Congress did not create the weakness; Congress exposed it.

The House resolution was opposed by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and most Republicans, who complained that it undermines Trump and his top negotiators when they are trying to secure a nuclear deal with Iran. Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., called Wednesday’s action “just a total BS vote.” source

The House vote is a public rebuke of a president whose own party is beginning to realize that bravado is not strategy, escalation is not victory, and loyalty to Trump is not the same thing as loyalty to the US Constitution. For years, Republicans warned about unchecked executive power — until that power belonged to their man. Now, with American forces entangled in Iran and the War Powers clock already blown past, a few Republicans are finally remembering that Congress, not the president, has the authority to declare war. This is even bigger than a Capitol Hill fight. America is being pulled deeper into the Middle East firestorm while its leaders pretend they are in control. They are not. Iran, Israel, the Gulf, oil prices, military escalation, congressional rebellion — all of it points to a superpower strained, divided, and spiritually blind while the voice of the prophets grows louder by the day.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Free Bible Program

As Operation Africa! Continues To Grow, Prisons All Across America Are Reaching Out With A Desperate Need For King James And RVG Spanish Bibles

Published

2 days ago

on

June 3, 2026

By

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

Operation Africa! ramping up as Bibles Behind Bars reaches a fever pitch as chaplains all across the United States reach out for Bibles and books

Operation Africa! is off to a wonderful start, with hundreds of Bibles already delieverd and hundreds more going out this week. We are preparing to plant two churches, one in Uganda and one in Kenya, exciting stuff! But in the midst of all that, a flurry of Jails and Prisons have also reached out, looking for Bibles in King James English and in RVG Spanish.

“Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.” Hebrews 13:3 (KJB)

Here are just a few of the places we are sending Bibles to this month:

Chaplain Don Parton from the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office wrote and said “I am a Capt. with our department and one of my functions is Director of programs for inmates, also oversee our Reentry division. We would appreciate some Bibles in English and Spanish our facilities house 566 inmates with a population of 30% Spanish. Thank You!” 

Chaplain Jason Cizek from the Danville City Jail wrote telling us “I oversee 4 jails with Danville being the largest. Altogether there’s about 500 inmates. Every piece of literature is gifted from donors. My goal is to consistently be able to supply Bibles to those incarcerated. Thank you.”

Chaplain Don Gillis from the Irwin County Detention Center, a facility that had closed during COVID and now reopened under Trump’s new immigration policy, wrote and said “Hello, we house immigration detainees for Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE). We are a relatively small facility having an 1100 bed capacity. The number of detainees being processed through our facility has increased greatly over the last couple of years. I allow and encourage the detainees to take their Bibles with them, if needed, when they leave our facility. This creates a constant need to resupply my inventory. I have been able to secure enough English Bibles but am unable to keep up with the demand for Spanish versions. I am, as of now, completely out of Spanish Bibles. Any help you could give will be greatly appreciated!” 

The Lord has filled our plate to overflowing with the sending out of thousands of King James Bibles, RVG Spanish Bibles, scripture portions, gospel tracts and Christian books and literature. All sent out at completely no charge to the chaplains receiving it at the facilities where they work. All made possible by you who pray for this outreach, and who give sacrificially to keep it going all these years. Come help us!

If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to inmates in jails and prisons from Florida to Alaska, and every state in between. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!

NOTE: If you need a 501 C3 Letter of Donation for tax purposes, please send your donation to:

NTEB Ministries
1340 N Great Neck Rd.
Ste. 1272-129
Virginia Beach, VA 23454.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Barack Hussein Obama

THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: The Obama Library Opens In Chicago As A Dystopian Granite Monolith Like The Headquarters Of A Post-American ‘1984’ Future

Published

2 days ago

on

June 3, 2026

By

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

Barack Hussein Obama’s Dark Presidential Library Rises Over Chicago Like A ‘1984’ Dystopian Fortress From The World Of ‘Leave The World Behind’

Barack Obama’s entire political career was built on image. The logo, the posters, the “citizen of the world” speeches. The “hope and change.” The global adoration, the fainting crowds and the messianic language from the media. The Nobel Peace Prize before he had done anything to earn it. The carefully produced cultural aura surrounding him was always bigger than the man himself. Now that image has been literally poured into concrete and granite, with the result looking exactly like what it always was: cold, controlled, menancing, towering, and spiritually empty.

“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Isaiah 2:22 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, in 2023, Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions was attached to Netflix’s ‘Leave The World Behind’, the dystopian thriller directed by Sam Esmail in which America begins collapsing through cyberattack, communications failure, infrastructure breakdown, mass confusion, and psychological terror. Netflix identified Higher Ground as part of the project, and the film itself was sold as a story about a mysterious blackout and a nation coming apart under invisible forces. Now take that imagery and place it side by side with Obama’s new Presidential Library in Chicago. On one side, you have Obama’s Netflix-backed dystopian nightmare: America cut off, Americans confused, phones dead, media gone, planes falling, tankers crashing, trust evaporating, and citizens left to wonder who is really behind the collapse. The end of the movie reveals it to be the American government. On the other side, you have Obama’s real-world presidential tower that is massive, dark, nearly windowless, and standing over Chicago like the headquarters of the people who would remain after the collapse was complete. The official story is “democracy,” “hope,” “community,” and “civic engagement.” But the visual story is something very different. The visual story is granite, height, surveillance-age design, digital archives, curated memory, political legacy, and a near-religious treatment of a man whose presidency accelerated America’s transformation into the globalized, technocratic, identity-driven, post-Christian system we are watching harden all around us. It is literally a depiction of George Orwell’s ‘1984’. The UK Guardian said “Towering over a low-income area of Chicago, and wrapped in a speech that’s hard to decipher, this controversial monolith feels like a menacing sci-fi HQ. Is it a monument – or a mausoleum?”  That’s a great question, and today we bring you all the news you need to know here on Day 2,270 of 15 Days To Flatten The Curve!

Study Helps And Links For Today’s Podcast

We Are Broadcasting Live Four Days A Week

  • The BIBLE BELIEVERS Sunday Service

Every Sunday morning, from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST, we invite you to join us live and in-person at the Bible Believers Church here inside the NTEB Bookstore in Palatka where we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and preach a message from the pages of the King James Authorized Version Holy Bible.

OUR MOST RECENT SUNDAY SERVICE VIDEO: Chief Of Sinners

• The RIGHTLY DIVIDING Radio Bible Study

Every Sunday evening from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, we offer an in-depth rightly dividing and dispensationally correct rocket ride through the preserved word of God as found within the pages of the King James Holy Bible. 

  • SUNDAY NIGHT: Our original Sunday Night Radio Bible Study, it’s from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, and we have praise, singing, testimony and of 90-minute King James Bible study. All our King James bible study programs are archived here.

• The NTEB PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST Hour

Every Monday and Friday afternoons from Noon to 1:30 PM EST, we examine breaking news and current events  in light of bible prophecy. 

  • MONDAY AT NOON: Every Monday at Noon we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.
  • FRIDAY AT NOON: Friday at Noon we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.

Your Generous Donations Make These Live King James Radio Bible Studies & Prophecy News Podcasts Possible!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

Listen to What Our Donation Angels Have to Say About the Ministry of Now The End Begins

  • “You are truly an end time ministry and I appreciate how our Precious Lord is using you to educate his very own flock. There is a lot of confusion , but your ministry is putting scripture in the right prospective. Thank-you so so much Geoffrey S Grider for standing firm and putting in a lot of hours of your time. God Bless You , also your Ministry and your family. IN JESUS MIGHT NAME.” T. Muto
  • “Jesus. I am now 64 years old and never in all the years I’ve been a Christian was I able to grow in the Lord as much as I have in the last past year. All because of our blessed brother’s work Geoffrey Grider who as the bravery of standing fast forward without fear of claiming the truth of God by the power of his love in Jesus Christ. May God bless you abundantly to the end my dear brother… ROMANS: 8: 36,37,38” Mireille Anderson
  • “I met you at the car dealership earlier this year. We spoke briefly, then you handed me a card and told me to check out the website. You left. A few minutes later, you returned to tell me not to forget to look up the website. I told you…” I already did. I already subscribed.” In that short time we spoke, I experienced from you…a total stranger…peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, compassion, and love. I am convinced that God sent you to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. For that, and for the work you are doing for the Kingdom of God, I say…Thank you and God Bless You.” Sonia Merced
  • “I really enjoy the emails and Bible studies! I haven’t found a church and enjoy your services very much! Be blessed brother!” Marcia Mann
  • “You and your organization are on the front lines in the Battle For Truth…. current events, end times, and trying to awaken a sleeping Laodicean Church. Thank you brother for fighting for us and all your teaching and insight God bless…” Daniel Cartrette
  • I just want to thank you for the teachings you give every Sunday night on radio.  You are such a blessing to me. I absolutely love your way of teaching the scriptures.  I don’t have a church where I can have fellowship and teaching, so you have been my teacher for many months now. Thanks God you are there for all of us who have no church to go to.  I pray that the Lord will bless you abundantly in your ministry, and your loved ones too.  You are such a blessing to me, and many others, in these last days before the rapture.  Thank you so much Geoffrey, from the bottom of my heart. May the Lord keep you, until He comes back for us. You are in my prayers.” Donald Godin
  • “Thank you for the work  you are doing brother.  Your page and your testimony were a blessing to me this morning as I came across it for the first time.  Thank you for the reality of your testimony and what God has done for you in introducing you to Jesus our Lord.  God has brought me, in salvation, to Himself as well, through His love and mercy and grace in salvation.  How can we praise Him enough?  How can we not share this good news!?  I pray this day for God’s blessing on your ministry that He may save many souls through the work He has called you to.  Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)” Mark and Melissa
  • “Love the Sunday night bible study. I want to support someone who has the passion for the lost like Geoffrey does and rightly divides the word of God. God bless you.” Teresa Carey
  • “I give because not many news outlets are brave enough or Godly enough to tell these stories from a Christian’s point of view. I see stories here that will not be seen anywhere else.” William Grayshaw
  • “It’s hard to find solid biblical teaching in America these days. It’s a blessing to be able to take part in a ministry financially without being concerned about false teaching. All glory to God! God bless!” Maximilian Swan
  • “I donate because you are reporting the truth about the increasing wickedness of our time, as God’s word foretold. In so doing we are reminded to “Keep looking up” as we wait in joyful hope for the Lord’s coming, Maranatha! ” Anthony Sloane
  • “Geoffrey has the best End Times News out there. I have been receiving his emails for years now and always enjoy his Sunday night messages although I don’t always think exactly as he thinks. We are all in this “boat of life” together and as I come to the end of my life’s journey here, I am more aware of Jesus’s call for us to be one as He and the Father are One.” Deborah Cleaveland

STREET-TESTED NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS:

This is the official gospel tract of NTEB, used here on the streets of Saint Augustine and sent around the world as they are purchased through our website. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the work of Now The End Begins by purchasing a box of these full-color, high-quality gospel tracts. Thank you in advance!

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

nteb-free-king-james-bibles-behind-bars-program-jails-prisons-main-banner-300

THE BIG STORY

Support Now the End Begins

We have many ways that you can financially support this end times ministry. You can send us a donation here through PayPal, or you can mail a donation to us. You can also purchase NTEB Gospel Tracts that you see above this box.

 

Donate by mail to:

NOW THE END BEGINS
PO Box 213
Palatka, FL 32177

 

You can also donate through the WayGiver link right below. We need and appreciate your support, thank you!

END TIMES

CHRISLAM

FALSE TEACHERS

THE METAVERSE

REAL UFOS

ISRAEL

THE MOTB

CATHOLIC CHURCH

FAKE NEWS

ABORTION

THE THIRD TEMPLE

BILL GATES

GEORGE SOROS

Trending