DUBAI, Unites Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump‘s administration reportedly plans to announce that the U.S. will officially call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia, a move that would be welcomed by Arab Gulf leaders and likely draw anger from Iran.
The development was reported by The Associated Press, citing two unnamed U.S. officials, and is set to be timed for Trump’s Middle East visit on May 13 to 16, during which time he will make stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The name of the body of water — a major shipping lane sitting between Iran’s southern coast and the coastlines of Arab countries Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar — has long been a point of contention, with several Arab states having spent years pushing for a change from Persian to Arabian Gulf. The area has been most widely called the Persian Gulf since roughly the 1700s, though it’s referred to as the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Arabia in many Arab countries.
U.S. Central Command in its publications and statements uses the name Gulf of Arabia, while the State Department and CIA have thus far used Persian Gulf.
Google maps labels the region “Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf),” while Apple Maps and major U.S. news outlets, including NBC News and The Associated Press, call it the Persian Gulf.
Iran, home of the former Persian empire, threatened in 2012 to sue Google for not naming the body of water altogether on its maps.
The White House did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. The Trump administration has been engaged in indirect talks with Iranian officials over Iran’s nuclear program.
Source: CNBC