Shafaq News/Iranian officials have strongly criticized reports that US President DonaldTrump plans to officially adopt the term "Arabian Gulf" during hisupcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, calling the move politically motivated andprovocative.
According toThe Associated Press, two unnamed US officials said Trump is expected toannounce next week that Washington will begin referring to the body of water aseither the "Arabian Gulf" or the "Gulf of Arabia",replacing the widely recognized historical name "Persian Gulf."
Reacting tothe report, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected what he describedas an attempt to alter a name long established in historical and internationalusage.
“The namePersian Gulf, like many geographical terms, is deeply rooted in human history,”Araghchi wrote on X, “Iran has never objected to names such as the Sea of Oman,Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, or Red Sea. These do not imply ownership, butreflect shared geographic heritage.”
He addedthat any effort to change the name for political purposes would be perceived asa hostile gesture toward Iran and its people.
The foreignminister also shared an image from the US Library of Congress depicting thewaterway labeled as the Persian Gulf, stressing that the name remainsinternationally recognized and consistently used in historical cartography andby global institutions.
Reza Nasri,a senior Iranian foreign policy expert, warned that a shift in terminologycould spark widespread protests from Iranian communities abroad, particularlyin the United States and at American diplomatic missions worldwide.
“Few issuesbring together Iranians across political divides like any attempt to rename thePersian Gulf,” Nasri said.
The namingdispute has resurfaced periodically over the past few decades. The term PersianGulf has been documented in historical records since at least the 16th centuryand remains the standard designation in United Nations documents andinternational treaties.
However, inrecent years, some Arab Gulf states have increasingly used the term"Arabian Gulf" in their domestic communications. The US military hasalso used that terminology in official statements, a practice that haspreviously drawn criticism from Tehran.
This wouldnot be the first time President Trump has drawn controversy over the issue. In2017, during his first term, similar language prompted then-Iranian PresidentHassan Rouhani to publicly suggest that Trump needed to “study geography.”
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… pic.twitter.com/PQjUiph4qt
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 7, 2025 Read More Details
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