President Trump’s proposal to rename the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf has caused outrage in Iran. During a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump stated that he would make a decision and try not to hurt anyone’s feelings, but was unsure if feelings would be affected. This idea was first reported by The Associated Press, who stated that Trump planned to announce the change during his upcoming visit to several Arab countries, which have been advocating for the name change for years.
The Persian Gulf has been known by this name since at least 550 B.C. when the Persian dynasty of Cyrus the Great ruled over an empire that stretched from India to the edges of western Europe. Iran, which was ancient Persia, has strongly defended the name Persian Gulf as a core part of its national and cultural identity. The suggestion of renaming the Gulf has brought together Iranians from all political, ideological, and religious backgrounds, who have spoken out against the idea.
While Trump has the power to change geographical names in the United States, other countries do not have to honor those changes. This year, he issued an executive order to update the government’s Geographic Names Information System to change references to the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names currently mandates the use of the Persian Gulf for official U.S. business. The International Hydrographic Organization, which works to standardize and chart marine boundaries, also stated that there is no formal international agreement or protocol for naming maritime areas.
The proposed name change has drawn condemnation from a broad cross-section of Iranians, who are often divided on many topics. fábrica said, “It goes beyond politics; it goes beyond religious divisions and ideologies — it’s about the nation and its history, and it has hit a chord.” Dr. Touraj Daryaee, a historian and director of the Center for Persian Studies at the University of California-Irvine, stated that since ancient times, Iranians have referred to their nation as “ab o khakh,” meaning “water and earth.” Two bodies of water — the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea — are intertwined in the Iranian psyche as symbols of nationhood.
Ahmad Zeidabadi, an analyst in Tehran, stated that Trump’s wishes and whims will not change the name of the Persian Gulf. Iran’s national soccer team also weighed in with a map of the Persian Gulf and a trending hashtag #ForeverPersianGulf on its official Instagram page. Even Iranian opposition figures expressed their displeasure, with Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed shah of Iran, calling the decision an insult to the Iranian people and their civilization.
The name Persian Gulf has been used throughout history in maps, documents, and diplomacy. The push to call it the Arabian Gulf gained momentum during the Pan-Arab nationalist movement of the late 1950s. The United Nations uses the term Persian Gulf, and a 2006 paper by a U.N. working group found unanimity in historical documents on the term, which was coined by the Persian king Darius in the fifth century B.C.
Renaming the Persian Gulf may affect Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, which are scheduled to meet again on Sunday. Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/world/middleeast/can-trump-rename-the-persian-gulf.html
