Ahead of a May tour of the Middle East, US President Donald Trump revived a long-running dispute over the name of the body of water between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula – should it be called the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Gulf or just the Gulf?
A few days before the trip that took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Trump reportedly floated the idea of renaming the Persian Gulf the "Arabian Gulf".
It echoed an earlier decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America" in an executive order signed hours after he took office in January.
In the end, Trump gave up on the idea during his week in the Middle East, resorting to realpolitik – perhaps wary of upsetting the Iranians even if it meant disappointing his Arab partners.
The sea – bordered by Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and the Musandam Peninsula (an exclave of Oman) on one side, and Iran on the other – has been at the centre of a naming dispute for decades.
Centuries of use
The 251,000 km² gulf in the Indian Ocean has been known as the Persian Gulf since at least the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. The name refers to the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire in history.
Greek and Roman geographers, including Ptolemy in the 2nd century, later referred to the Persian Gulf or the Persian Sea. Renowned Arab historians such as Ibn Al-Athir and Ibn Khaldun used this toponymy in their history books in the 12th and 15th centuries AD.
By the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Persian Gulf appeared in treaties signed by regional leaders and the British, who dominated the area at the time.
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Arab nationalism in the 20th century gave rise to the term Arabian Gulf – even though when the Egyptian Gamal Abdel Nasser came to power in the early 1950s, the slogan "One nation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf" was all the rage.
The term Arabian Gulf also appeared earlier in history. The Greek historian Strabo used it in the 1st century AD, but he was referring to what is now known as the Red Sea, on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula.
In today's Arab press, the Persian Gulf is usually referred to as Al-Khaleej, which means simply "the Gulf". The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman – all use the term Arabian Gulf.
Today, Google Maps uses the term Persian Gulf, with Arabian Gulf in brackets. For years, the US military has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in its statements and images.
'A denial of history'
The body of water is linked to the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Hormuz and holds around 60 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 40 percent of its gas. The area is a vital shipping route and has seen many disputes between Arab states and Iran.
In 1970, a journalist from the French monthly newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique wrote an article in which he used the term Arabian Gulf when reporting on the latest clashes in the region between "traditionalist elements and revolutionary forces".
The Iranian embassy in France responded with a letter calling the term “a denial of history”.
The letter said: “The gulf in question has been called the Persian Gulf for over 2,000 years... All the geographers and historians of antiquity knew the Gulf only as the Persian Gulf... From the 16th century onwards, in the great atlases... it was referred to exclusively as the ‘Sinus Persicus’ [Persian Gulf in Greek].
The statement noted that until around 1960, even Arab schoolbooks used the Farsi name Kha-Lidj Al Farsi – Persian Gulf. It ended with the question: “So why the change in terminology?”
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Iran has taken strong action against publications and organisations using the term Arabian Gulf. In 2004, National Geographic was banned after placing "Arabian Gulf" in brackets next to "Persian Gulf". The Economist faced a similar ban in 2006.
In 2010, Iran cancelled the Islamic Solidarity Games – a Saudi-led initiative – after it emerged that the medals and logos would say Persian Gulf. That same year, Iran warned that foreign airlines using the term Arabian Gulf could be banned from its airspace.
National pride
In 2006, a commission of UN experts, geographers, geologists, archaeologists and historians concluded, after analysing more than 6,000 maps of the area, that the term Persian Gulf was historically the most widely used designation.
It remains the term officially recognised by the UN, the International Hydrographic Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation.
For Iran, it is not just about history – it is a matter of national pride.
“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,” foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X after Trump's intentions were revealed.
He added: “I am confident that @realdonaldtrump is aware that the name PERSIAN Gulf is centuries old and recognised by all cartographers and international bodies... any short-sighted step in this connection will have no validity or legal or geographical effect. It will only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life and political persuasion in Iran, the US and across the world.”
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Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi also weighed in on X. “The Persian Gulf is not just a name but a historical reality... The reported decision by President Trump to abrogate history, should it be true, is an affront to the people of Iran and our great civilisation.”
With nuclear negotiations under way between Tehran and Washington, Trump’s decision to back down on renaming the Gulf has been seen in Iran as a sign of restraint.
This article was adapted from the original version in French.
