The Gulf between Iran and the rest of the world
Image via WikipediaTweaking one word in the name of a landmark normally wouldn't cause a diplomatic fracas. Except when that word is "Persian," and it's changed to "Arabian."Actually it makes more sense to accept the name used by our allies in the region than by our enemy who has been making war on us for over 30 years. It was during the first Gulf War that the name became an issue with our allies in discussions about the waterway. At least that is when it became public although it was probably out there for several years before.
The U.S. Navy has invited outrage from Iranian advocacy groups, the Iranian government and Facebook protesters for making it official policy to call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf. Though the Navy claims it's been using the term for two decades, the Pentagon was bombarded with complaints over the past week after the language showed up in the Navy's official style guide online.
Now what began as a cyberprotest on Facebook may be escalating into a new rift between Washington and Tehran at an already tense time.
"This only fuels those tensions," said Jamal Abdi, policy director with the National Iranian American Council, an advocacy group for Iranian Americans based in Washington, D.C. "This is an ethnically divisive term. ... It's very troubling."
Abdi said Washington is playing "name games" which could have "dangerous" consequences.
The nomenclature regarding the body of water that separates Iran from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states is a bigger sticking point than one might expect. The name has become a point of cultural pride, after some Arab nations began calling it the Arabian Gulf in the 1960s -- though it was known for centuries as the Persian Gulf and continues to be labeled as such on modern maps.
Iran's government, representing the land formerly known as Persia, has scolded any country that even hints at using the new term, and this time was no different.
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I don't think we should really care what the Iranians think about what our Navy calls the Arabian Gulf. It is not like they would stop hating us and trying to destroy us or our allies if we suddenly reverted to the Persian Gulf.
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