Trump To Decide On Persian Gulf Naming During West Asia Tour

Washington: The Persian Gulf renaming dispute had been a long-standing geopolitical and cultural disagreement over the name of the water body that lies between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Many of the Arab states, those members in the GCC, prefer the water body to be referred to as the “Arabian Gulf”. However, Iran strongly opposed the renaming and called it a “politically motivated distortion”.

As a recent development to the issue, United States President Donald Trump has stated that he would make a decision on how the US refers to the Persian Gulf during his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

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While speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that he expects the hosts to ask about the name the US uses for the waterway during the trip. “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 said.

Trump’s comment has come after US media had reported that during his trip to the Middle East, he will announce that the US would refer to the waterway as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia.

Iran had argued that “Persian Gulf” is the appropriate name to refer to the water body in light of historical evidence, which includes ancient maps that show it as part of its territory.

In 2012, Iran had even went to the extent of suing internet giant Google for leaving the waterway nameless on its online map services.

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Condemning the latest suggestions of a name change, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that it is “indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people”, and warned that such a move would “only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life”.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump had also renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” soon after retaking the White House.