President Donald Trump is to announce that his administration would refer to the Persian Gulf as either the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia during his official visit to three Gulf countries this week, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Associated Press. In a rare event, both the opposition voices and the current Iranian government have condemned Trump’s decision to rename the Persian Gulf.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to the controversy on the social media platform X, saying, “The name Persian Gulf, like many geographical designations, is deeply rooted in human history. Iran has never objected to the use of names such as the Sea of Oman, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, or Red Sea. The use of these names does not imply ownership by any particular nation but rather reflects a shared respect for the collective heritage of humanity.”
“In contrast, politically motivated attempts to alter the historically established name of the Persian Gulf are indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people and are firmly condemned. Such biased actions are an affront to all Iranians, regardless of their background or place of residence,” Araghchi added.
The body of water lying between Iran and Arab countries in the Arabian Peninsula has been known as the Persian Gulf as early as the 16th century. To authenticate the validity of the term “Persian Gulf”, a group of United Nations experts gathered to discuss its historical application and published an eight-page document in 2006. According to this document, between the years 559 and 330 B.C., Pars Sea is widely used in historical documents. During the pre-Islamic era, the Arabian populace was unfamiliar with the Persian Gulf. During this time, Ardeshir, the Sassanid king of Iran, campaigned in Yemen to suppress a rebellion upon the request of the Yemeni governor; this event led to the forced migration of Arabs to the coastal areas bordering the Persian Gulf. With the expansion of Islam to Persia, more Arabs settled in the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf and the Iranian plateau. Thus, due to the absence of the Arab population in that area during antiquity, the term Arabian Gulf or the Arabian Sea in Greek texts often equated to the Red Sea.
During the 1960s and with the rise of Arab nationalism, the term “Arabian Gulf” became dominant in Arab Middle Eastern countries, especially those bordering the southern part of the Persian Gulf.
U.S. military and navy personnel stationed in Gulf countries are advised to refer to the body of water as the Arabian Gulf when having a dialogue with the locals.
Iran has a history of opposing alternative references to the Persian Gulf, having taken action against entities who do not use the traditional name. In 2012, the Iranian government threatened to sue Google over its decision not to label the body of water between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. “If Google does not correct its mistake as soon as possible, we will file an official complaint against Google,” said former Iranian Foreign Minister Ramin Mehmanparast. Iran banned The Economist from operating in the country in 2006 after it referred to the Persian Gulf as “the Gulf” in an article.
President Trump previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in January, which led to the Mexican government taking legal action against Google.
When asked about his controversial plan during a press conference, President Trump said, “I’ll have to make a decision.”
“I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I don’t know if feelings are going to be hurt.” he added.
Trump unveiled his plan to rename the Persian Gulf amid Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, which analysts believe may create an atmosphere of mistrust and potentially damage the process of these ongoing talks. “It will just create mistrust and embolden the hard-liners in Iran who say you can’t trust America,” Mr. Mousavian, a former senior Iranian diplomat, said in an interview.
President Trump tried to rename the Persian Gulf during his first term. His first administration received backlash from President Hassan Rouhani’s government. “Everyone knew Trump’s friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know what his geography is, too,” said Javad Zarif, former Iranian foreign minister, at that time.
While Trump has the authority to change how geographical locations are referred to within the United States by updating the Geographical Names Information System, this change does not compel other nations to adopt to the new terminology.
Written by Mohammad Amin
