Ryuzaki
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What's in a name? History, politics and pride. Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been escalating on many fronts — over wars in Syria and Yemen, the Saudis' execution of a dissident Shia cleric and the Iran nuclear deal. The dispute runs so deep that the regional rivals — one a Shia theocracy, the other a Sunni monarchy — even clash over the name of the body of water that separates them.
Is it the Persian Gulf ? Or the Arabian Gulf ? Iran insists that it be called the Persian Gulf, and has banned publications that fail to use that name. Yet this riles Arab nations, which have succeeded in pushing various parties to use their preferred term — Arabian Gulf.
This may be among the most minor of the disputes, but it speaks to the level of hostility and competition between the two, and is taken quite seriously by many with an interest in the region — including the United States Navy, which, for fear of alienating its regional allies, uses the term Arabian Gulf.
Why does it matter? In a world where these two adversaries are trying to outmaneuver each other to be the regional superpower, a name can be powerful. Persian Gulf has been used throughout history, in maps, documents and diplomacy, from the ancient Persians, whose empire dominated the region, to the Greeks and the British.
The push to call it the Arabian Gulf gathered steam during the Pan-Arab nationalist movement of the late 1950s, propelled by President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, the historian Lawrence G Potter wrote in the 'The Persian Gulf in History'. In the 1960s, Arab countries made Arabian Gulf compulsory, and the Gulf Cooperation Council uses it. The United Nations uses Persian Gulf. A 2006 paper by a United Nations working group found unanimity in historical documents on the term, which it said was coined by the Persian king Darioush in the fifth century BC.
As far as the US government is concerned, the body of water is the Persian Gulf, per theboard on geographic names. Google Maps shows both terms, with Arabian Gulf in parentheses.
Persian or Arabian Gulf? Iran, Saudi fight over name - Times of India
Is it the Persian Gulf ? Or the Arabian Gulf ? Iran insists that it be called the Persian Gulf, and has banned publications that fail to use that name. Yet this riles Arab nations, which have succeeded in pushing various parties to use their preferred term — Arabian Gulf.
This may be among the most minor of the disputes, but it speaks to the level of hostility and competition between the two, and is taken quite seriously by many with an interest in the region — including the United States Navy, which, for fear of alienating its regional allies, uses the term Arabian Gulf.
Why does it matter? In a world where these two adversaries are trying to outmaneuver each other to be the regional superpower, a name can be powerful. Persian Gulf has been used throughout history, in maps, documents and diplomacy, from the ancient Persians, whose empire dominated the region, to the Greeks and the British.
The push to call it the Arabian Gulf gathered steam during the Pan-Arab nationalist movement of the late 1950s, propelled by President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, the historian Lawrence G Potter wrote in the 'The Persian Gulf in History'. In the 1960s, Arab countries made Arabian Gulf compulsory, and the Gulf Cooperation Council uses it. The United Nations uses Persian Gulf. A 2006 paper by a United Nations working group found unanimity in historical documents on the term, which it said was coined by the Persian king Darioush in the fifth century BC.
As far as the US government is concerned, the body of water is the Persian Gulf, per theboard on geographic names. Google Maps shows both terms, with Arabian Gulf in parentheses.
Persian or Arabian Gulf? Iran, Saudi fight over name - Times of India
