President Donald Trump plans to announce next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, according to two US officials.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that two US officials familiar with the matter said Trump would announce the change while he was on the trip to the Middle East.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
That report generated a storm of outcry from Iranians of all political persuasions who said the Persian Gulf moniker was thousands of years old and an essential part of Iran’s cultural and geographical history.
Arab nations have long 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.
Iranians both supportive and opposed to Iran's current government denounced any change.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who has been involved in three rounds of nuclear negotiations with Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff, said the change would indicate “hostile intent” toward Iran.
“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,” he wrote on the social platform X. "Any short-sighted 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.”
The usage of the “Arabian Gulf” is official by the Arab World League and the entire Arab states in the Middle East in addition to organizations, institutions and Arab media outlets.
On Google Maps in the US, the body of water does not appear as Arabian Gulf. When Trump takes his decision, Google Maps will adopt the naming officially inside the US.
