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Iranians protest Gulf being named Arabian
Dozens of Iranians rallied outside the UAE embassy on Tuesday to press Tehran's demand for a waterway crucial to the world economy to be called the Persian, and not the Arabian, Gulf.
The name of the key oil shipping route is a bone of contention between Shi'ite Muslim Iran and its predominantly Sunni Arab neighbours.
Iran and the UAE are also embroiled in a territorial dispute over the sovereignty of three islands in the waterway.
RELATED: UAE demands Iran hand over disputed islands
Iran insists on calling the water along its southern coast the Persian Gulf. The body of water also touches Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, and many people in these states refer to the waters as the Arabian Gulf.
Up to 200 people demonstrated at the UAE embassy to mark Iran's annual National Persian Gulf Day, newswire Reuters witnesses said.
"Always Persian Gulf," one banner said.
"Children of Iran are looking toward Bahrain," read another.
A hardline Iranian newspaper last year triggered protests in Sunni-ruled Bahrain, which has a majority Shi'ite population, by saying it belonged to non-Arab Iran. The two countries later moved to defuse a potential diplomatic row.
In 2004, Iran banned National Geographic magazine when it included the Arabian Gulf name in parentheses on a map. The magazine later changed the labelling, a move Iranian officials described as "a victory for all Iranians".
Some news organisations use the Gulf as a compromise term, but the Islamic Republic banned distribution of the Economist magazine two years ago after it published an article and a map that referred to the Gulf instead of the Persian Gulf. (Reuters)
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Comments 1-10 of 10
Posted by Soroosh, Tehran, Iran on 13 May 2008 at 11:10 UAE time
Dear All,
The reference to the invented term "Arabian Gulf" is historically and legally incorrect. The correct designation for the body of water is the Persian Gulf. The Arabian Gulf is the ancient designation of the present-day Red Sea!!
http://blog.gradedirectory.com/red-sea-gulf-of.html
The term "Arabian Gulf" is as arbirary and invalid as re-naming the English Channel as the "French Channel", the Indian Ocean as "the Pakistan Ocean", or the Thames River of London as the "Celtic River". Think of the social, political, economic and historical chaos that would ensue from unwarranted actions, or should I say "arbitrary labeling"?
Iranians certainly do not refer to the Arabian Sea as "The Persian Sea". This is as historically and legally invalid as using "Arabian Gulf" to refer to the Persian Gulf.
In Legal terms, the United Nations has twice recognized the legality of the term "Persian Gulf" (UNAD 311/March 5, 1971 and UNLA 45.8.2 © on August 10, 1984). It is significant that all Arab countries have signed the UN documents. For further information consult the following links:
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/mideastr.pdf
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/westasia.pdf
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/iran.pdf
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/maplib/docs/escwa.pdf
Note that U.S. Department of State also refers to the correct legal and historically valid term Persian Gulf. For reference please visit:
http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c2422.htm
http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c19354.htm
Arab scholars up to the 1960s have also referred to the body of water as per its correct name "Kahleej-ol-Faris" (Persian Gulf) (see George Hourani's "Arab Seafaring: In the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times", Princeton University Press, 1995). For further information you may consult:
http://www.persiangulfonline .org/maps.htm
As noted above, the "Arabian Gulf" actually referred to the present-day Red Sea in antiquity (see Herodotus). The invention of "Arabian Gulf" with respect to its historically incorrect reference to the Persian Gulf was initiated by Sir Charles Belgrave (advisor to the Emir of Bahrain in 1926) who made the formal proposal to change the name of Persian Gulf in 1937 - the initiative was rejected by the British government at the time. For a popular reference regarding Sir Belgrave's activities, see TIME Magazine's August 27, 1956 entitled "The Uncontrollable Genie). Sir Belgrave's failure did not restrain Mr. Roderic Owen (an employee of British Petroleum in the 1950s) from reviving the project of name change for the Persian Gulf. The term "Arabian Gulf" is a geopolitical invention devoid of historical context or meaning; it is also illegal (see aforementioned UN actions).
Best Regards
Soroosh Ghaderi
Posted by A on 10 May 2008 at 00:37 UAE time
whether it is Arabian or Iranian, what does this change?
it is enough troubles from Iran, they should accept and respect their 7 neighborers!
Did any body from Arab protest just because Iran said it is Persian Gulf, of course No.
Posted by From Planet Earth on 4 May 2008 at 13:16 UAE time
It's so unfair and unprofessional to call Persian Gulf, Arabian Gulf. If you are educated, and if you believe there are certain internationally recognized and agreed documents, then all of them will show you Persian Gulf has been the only name for this area.
May be powerful and rich countries wanted to change Iran's history and existence!
No matter which nation you are which magazine you write for the Persian Gulf historically has been, is and will be the Persian Gulf. Using Arabian as the name will only reveal a lack of knowledge.
You cannot change history by money and power.
Posted by C.Osborne, London, UK on 3 May 2008 at 16:11 UAE time
I was once called to the Iranian Embassy in Canberra to answer why I had referred to `this waterway` as the Arabian Gulf in an article I had written for Australian magazine.
It's a sensitive situation but as` The Gulf` is shared by Iran on one side and by five GCC states on the other I know solve the problem by calling it the Persian Gulf if writing about `the waterway` when in Iran and the `Arabian Gulf` if working and writing about the Arab States.
Posted by charbel bousraih, dubai, uae on 3 May 2008 at 13:19 UAE time
Iran calls it "The Persian Gulf" and the Arab nations call it "The Arabian Gulf". Internationally and globally should be indicated as "The Gulf". Everyone live in peace.
Posted by zal3oota on 2 May 2008 at 20:38 UAE time
The sea is called the Arabian Sea; the Arab peninsula and Gulf were always Arabian throughout history and there are seven Arabian countries on that Gulf... so, where and how does your claim originate?
Posted by Fadi, Beirut, Lebanon on 2 May 2008 at 08:48 UAE time
It is up to the Arabs to call the Gulf as they wish, and that would be the Arabian Gulf, which connects to the Arabian Sea. Iran can proceed to rename the Caspian as they wish. As for quoting History, the same history books that referred to the Arabian Gulf as Persian - also included reference to Rhodesia, named after Cecil Rhodes. That never made it right, or did it?
Plus, Iran is no longer referred to as Persia, so why refer to a Gulf by a name that no longer exists? There's just too much national irrational sentiment driving this forward.
Posted by bez on 1 May 2008 at 20:07 UAE time
The Mexican Gulf is not called American Gulf by the Americans. So, no matter how much money some Arab countries spend to try to change the name, it's still the Persian Gulf.
Posted by Kieran, London, UK on 1 May 2008 at 11:53 UAE time
We call ours the "English Channel". The French call it "La Manche".
Nobody really gives a hoot what it's called as it doesn't affect our wealth, health and general well being in any way at all.
So nobody who has an interest in having an Iranian Government that promotes business and education and prosperity for its people would fall for this childish nationalism designed to obscure the fact that the people are getting poorer daily due to the government's incompetance.
The name of a piece of water that will, one day, not even exist is neither here nor there in the bigger picture.
People should really focus their energies on getting decent government and improving the lot of their descendants, not on this kind of foolishness.
Posted by D on 1 May 2008 at 11:05 UAE time
Have a look at all international (as well as Western) maps & Atlases, they all say Persian Gulf.
It never was Arabian. What's Arabian is only the Arabian Sea which is east of the Arabian peninsula & west of India.
Surely, I was not the only one who noticed a steady & subtle definition of the "Arabian Gulf" in news items of all of dailies here in UAE only for the last 2-3 years.
Obviously, it was a deliberate aim to pressurise Iran concerning disputed islands between them (Abu Mousa & Tunb as defined by UAE).
And no, this subtle & deliberate tactic does not only stop at the Arabian Gulf.
Just look around the dailies to notice their sustained tactics against some countries wherein they only highlight the petty crimes & poverty but never give enough news articles of their outstanding achievements. Examples are India & Philippines related news.
Editor's Reply I think you are probably reading too much into this. Bad news has always sold more papers than good news - and this is the same around the world.
Every paper - from the UK to Germany to Thailand - will print more negative than positive stories about any country - including their own.
They print these stories, because these are the stories people want to know about. They drive circulation - and therefore revenues.
Different countries tend to call shared geographies different things. The channel between England and France will forever remain the English channel for the UK. For the French however it is La Manche ('the sleeve' - go figure).
The difference in this case is that English is neither the language of Iran or Arabia. Hence, what it's called by international publishers is in some way perceived as its official name. Hence the added sensitivity.