Donald Trump continues to click with toponymy. After having changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico in “Gulf of America”, the president of the United States intends to lead a new look at the matter during his visit to Saudi Arabia scheduled for next week. According to Associated Press’s agency, which is based on two official sources that requested anonymity, Donald Trump will announce during his trip that the United States will designate the “Persian Gulf” under the name of the “Arabian Gulf”.
As AP recalls, this change would not be in itself a revolution on the American side since several years have passed since the army has used the expression “Arab Gulf” in the “Persian Gulf” expression in its press releases.
In the United States, as in France, the range of water is designated by the name of the “Persian Gulf (Arabic Gulf)”, while in the Middle East, “Gulf de Arabia” and “Arab Gulfo” are widely used in most countries. However, in Iran, due to Persian inheritance, it is logically the “Persian Gulf” that predominates.
First diplomatic problems in 2017
This is not the first time that Donald Trump is interested in the name of the Gulf that borders the coasts of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In 207, during his first term, he had already used the term “Arab Gulf” to refer to the extension of water. In response, Iranian President Hassan Rohani advised his American counterpart “to study geography.”
The revelation of Donald Trump’s intentions during his trip that will take him, in addition to his Saudi scenario, in Doha, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, angered the Foreign Minister of Iran, Abbas Araghchi.
“The political attempts destined to modify the historically established name of the Persian Gulf testify a hostile intention towards Iran and its people and are firmly convicted,” the minister wrote in his X account.
“Any measure in this regard will not be valid, nor any legal or geographical effect,” he added. “She will only attract the anger of all Iranians, from all origins and all political trends, in Iran, in the United States and throughout the world.”
Source: BFM TV
