Persian Gulf naming dispute

Iran and the Arab countries have been involved in a long-running geographical naming dispute over what has been historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf.^[2]^[3] Connected to the Gulf of Oman and thereby to the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz, it is an extension of the Indian Ocean. In the Western world, the Gulf's namesake is Persia, which is Iran's Western exonym. The name of the Persian Gulf was not contested at a high level until the popularization of Arab nationalism and pan-Arabism around the 1960s, when the Arab countries increasingly sought to suppress Iranian influence in the Middle East and on the international stage.^[4] Thus, the toponym "Arabian Gulf" (Arabic: الخليج العربي) or simply "Gulf" was adopted and asserted by Arab governments and Arab media, led by the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. On the other hand, Iran and Iranian media have asserted the name "Persian Gulf" (Persian: خلیج فارس) exclusively.^[5]

^ "The Persian Gulf". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. 2 January 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2024. Clouds of tan, blue, and green swirl fancifully along the shores of the Persian Gulf in this photo-like image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on November 28, 2007.
^ "Persian Gulf: From rich history to security depth". Tehran Times. 29 April 2020.
^ Zraick, Karen (12 January 2016). "Persian (or Arabian) Gulf Is Caught in the Middle of Regional Rivalries". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
^ Bosworth, C. Edmund (1980). "The Nomenclature of the Persian Gulf". In Cottrell, Alvin J. (ed.). The Persian Gulf States: A General Survey. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. xvii–xxxvi. Not until the early 1960s does a major new development occur with the adoption by the Arab states bordering on the Gulf of the expression al-Khalij al-Arabi as a weapon in the psychological war with Iran for political influence in the Gulf; but the story of these events belongs to a subsequent chapter on modern political and diplomatic history of the Gulf. (p. xxxiii.)
^ Eilts, Hermann F. (Autumn 1980). "Security Considerations in the Persian Gulf". International Security. Vol. 5, No. 2. pp. 79–113.

[1] "The Persian Gulf". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. 2 January 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2024. Clouds of tan, blue, and green swirl fancifully along the shores of the Persian Gulf in this photo-like image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on November 28, 2007.

[2] "Persian Gulf: From rich history to security depth". Tehran Times. 29 April 2020.

[3] Zraick, Karen (12 January 2016). "Persian (or Arabian) Gulf Is Caught in the Middle of Regional Rivalries". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 April 2024.

[4] Bosworth, C. Edmund (1980). "The Nomenclature of the Persian Gulf". In Cottrell, Alvin J. (ed.). The Persian Gulf States: A General Survey. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. xvii–xxxvi. Not until the early 1960s does a major new development occur with the adoption by the Arab states bordering on the Gulf of the expression al-Khalij al-Arabi as a weapon in the psychological war with Iran for political influence in the Gulf; but the story of these events belongs to a subsequent chapter on modern political and diplomatic history of the Gulf. (p. xxxiii.)

[5] Eilts, Hermann F. (Autumn 1980). "Security Considerations in the Persian Gulf". International Security. Vol. 5, No. 2. pp. 79–113.

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