Donald Trump plans to announce while on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week that the US will now refer to the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia rather than the Persian Gulf.
The move has prompted outrage from Iranian leaders, and last-minute efforts are being made to persuade Trump to pull back from offending Iran in the midst of vital talks on the future of the Iranian nuclear programme. “If Trump went ahead with the proposal he would manage to unite every Iranian, pro- or anti-regime, against him, and that is a near impossible achievement,” one diplomat said.
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said he hoped the absurd rumour about a name change was disinformation, adding that names of Middle East waterways did “not imply ownership by any particular nation, but rather reflects a shared respect for the collective heritage of humanity”.
“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. 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.
“Any shortsighted 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.”
Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the Gulf.
The term Persian Gulf has been used since Roman times and the Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, with Iranians tracing their history back to the Persian empire. The use of “Gulf of Arabia” and “Arabian Gulf” is dominant in many countries in the Middle East. The government of Iran – formerly Persia – threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps.
But Trump regards the US decision to change how the US administration describes the Gulf as a gift to Arab leaders that will lead them to offer concessions regarding their relations with Israel. The move comes several months after Trump said the US would refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.
European diplomats trying to broker a deal between the US and Iran over the nuclear programme are urging the Iranian leadership not to “lose it” over Trump’s actions, but there are fears that hardliners in Iran opposed to the principle of talks with the US will use Trump’s gesture as a lever with which to argue the US cannot be trusted.
But JD Vance, the vice-president, speaking at a Munich Security Conference event in Washington, gave a very upbeat account of the talks, saying: “So far so good ... Our proposition is simple: we don’t care if people want nuclear power. They can have civil nuclear power. We don’t mind that. But you can’t have the kind of enrichment programme that allows you to get to a nuclear weapon and that’s where we draw the line.”
He said the two sides might be on the verge of a deal that “reintegrates” Iran into the global economy.
His reference to a “kind of enrichment programme” suggests the Americans may be prepared to allow Iranians to enrich uranium to some degree under the supervision of the UN’s nuclear inspectors, the IAEA.
There has been controversy in the past about how US officials refer to the Gulf.
