Egypt Daily News – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he may be asked to make a decision regarding the naming of the Gulf during his upcoming visit to the region. Trump added, “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” and noted that he will receive a briefing on the matter before taking an official position.
Earlier, U.S. media reported that during Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia next week, he intends to refer to the “Arabian Gulf” as an alternative to “Persian Gulf.” According to the reports, citing U.S. officials, “Arab countries have exerted pressure to change the geographic name of the body of water off Iran’s southern coast.”
The use of the term “Arabian Gulf” is prevalent in many Middle Eastern countries, and the U.S. military has referred to the area as the “Arabian Gulf” in its reports and images for years. The reports also mentioned a dispute that arose between Washington and Tehran in 2017, during Trump’s first term, when the term “Arabian Gulf” was used to describe the waterway.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi earlier today described “any attempt to change the name of the waters as revealing hostile intentions towards Iran and an insult to all Iranians,” warning that it would “anger all Iranians worldwide.”
