Trump Wants To Rename The Persian Gulf to Arabian

By Rhod Mackenzie

It has been announced that Donald  Trump fresh from renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America has his sighs on another sea nowhere near the USA and it concerns the BRICS member Iran

Donald Trump the President of the United States is poised to try to make a significant geographical change by renaming the Persian Gulf.Obviously Iran which is the state that is the historically  the land  and country of  the Ancient Persia has already expressed significant displeasure at the idea, and the implications of the renaming will extend far beyond disputes over geographic names.
So what are the reasons for Washington's  reasons for doing this for this after all its an ancient name that even predates the Gulf of Mexico which Trump has decided is now the Gulf of America , and the timing of this request?
US President Donald Trump has announced that he is considering this geographic decision. In anticipation of his upcoming diplomatic tour of the Middle East (with visits to the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia from 13-16 May), he has suggested (if leaks are to be believed) that the US might formally recognise the name change of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf.

At the moment , the Persian Gulf already has three variants of the name in use. In official geographic publications, recognised circles and  language it is described as the  Persian Gulf , this is shown in the majority of UN documents and by most countries worldwide.
The historical name dates back to ancient times and the days of the Persian Empire . This is how Strabo, one of the world's first  real geographers, referred to it in his  first major  work "Geography".

One of the other names is the Arabian Gulf. It gained use in the 20th century, and is used primarily by the Arab countries themselves. "The Arabs have long since renamed the Persian Gulf. They refer to it exclusively as the Arabian Gulf in their textbooks, books, media, and official documents," explains international political scientist and RIAC analyst Elena Suponina
Currently in the those who are interested of avoiding any potential offence, some players opt to use the term the  "Gulf" instead.
At the same time, the United States itself has demonstrated its  topographical flexibility to this day. For instance, the US State Department and the White House consistently utilise the name "Persian Gulf" in their official documents, adhering to the stipulations outlined in the American Register of Geographical Names.
However, the US Army Central Command and the Navy frequently use the term 'Arabian Gulf' or simply 'the Gulf', especially in documents relating to their Arab allies.

It is now evident that the White House  wants to impress the Gulf Arab states. Once more, pandering to the egos of these allies with whom the American president must now strengthen relations in anticipation of potential strikes on Iran or new radical actions by Israel against the Palestinians. Essentially, his tendency to align himself with the Arab community is a key factor in this matter.

"By releasing this proposal just before his trip to the Arab states, Trump has paid another compliment to the rich monarchies that he loves and adores. After all, he has long-standing family business relations with representatives of the royal families of these states according ."Elena Suponina.
When I arrive, I will be asked by the Arab leaders to make a decision. I have no wish to cause any offence or to have the feelings of any person affected in any way," Trump stated.

However, it should be noted that Iranians have already expressed their discontent. "Attempts to change the historical name of the Persian Gulf for political reasons are regarded as hostile towards Iran and its people, and are strongly condemned," said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. He expressed hope that "the absurd rumors around the Persian Gulf are nothing more than a disinformation campaign by the 'eternal warriors' to anger Iranians around the world."

However, it is evident that under the Trump administration, unfounded geographic rumours have frequently  actually been enacted into legislation. He has already renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America well at least in America.Whether the rest of the World goes along with it is another matter.

And now, Speaker Mike Johnson is attempting to pass legislation through the House of Representatives that would formally recognise the renaming.
It is clear that achieving consensus on this issue will be challenging, given the opposition of several Republican congressmen to the decision.
"This is a matter of great importance. The United States should acting in a dictorial and arbitrary manner . We are above all this," said one of these congressmen, Don Bacon. However, according to preliminary estimates, the bill is currently gaining the necessary number of votes, since some Democrats are also planning to support it.

Now the task appears to be relatively straightforward. "Iran has never objected to the use of names such as the Gulf of Oman, the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea or the Red Sea. The use of these names does not imply affiliation with any particular nation, but rather reflects a general respect for the collective heritage of humanity," says Abbas Araghchi.

However, this is not entirely accurate. The name does not imply any nationality, but it does reflect the cultural and historical dominance of a country or people in a region. Therefore, the ocean  it ajoins became known as the Indian Ocean because India (or the Indian principalities) were the most culturally dominant players on its shores and had been so for the longest period of time. This was recognised by Europeans when they began referring to the ocean as the Indian Ocean back in the 16th century.That was long before the US was even a British colony.
The same can be said of the Gulf of Mexico. This name first appeared in the second half of the 16th century and reflected the antiquity of Mexican identity (not statehood – the country was still under Spanish rule) and its historical dominance in the region. It was only in the 19th century that Americans established a presence on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, following the acquisition of Louisiana from France and the annexation of the Mexican territory of  Texas.

The same principle applies to city names. In 2023, the Commission for Standardization of Geographical Names of Poland recommended using only the name Królewiec for Kaliningrad, suggesting that East Prussia was historically Polish territory. The official names of the countries, Belarus (not Belorussiya), Kyrgyzstan (not Kirghizia), and Almaty (not Alma-Ata), underscore the ethnic, cultural, and political sovereignty of the respective nations.

It is not surprising that a number of countries are reluctant to change their geographical names for placess. For instance, the Sea of Japan is referred to as the "East Sea" in South Korea and the "Korean East Sea" in North Korea. It is therefore not surprising that Iran wants its historical waters to still be called the Persian Gulf.
"There were periods of Persian power in history, and the Greeks, taking this power into account, called the gulf "Persian" in their chronicles, taking this name from the treatises of Persian scholars," says Elena Suponina. Furthermore, in this instance, as is also the case with the Sea of Japan/East/East Korean Sea, the generally accepted name can become a further point of contention in territorial disputes over the islands in this body of water.

"Renaming is not just an image issue. There are numerous islands in the Persian Gulf that are the subject of territorial disputes.

Their ownership is contested by several neighbouring states (particularly Iran and the UAE), and these latent conflicts could be exacerbated by current US policy," Suponina continues.

This cultural sensitivity is reflected in the Iranian approach to addressing incorrect names, which involves a more stringent approach to addressing and correcting the issue. In 2004, Iran banned the National Geographic channel from broadcasting because one of its programmes used the name "Arabian Gulf". The channel was then able to correct the error and return to the network. In 2010, Iran threatened to deny access to its airspace to companies whose aircraft had the incorrect name of the Gulf written on their electronic boards.

It seems improbable that Iran will be able to take retaliatory action against the United States for the insult. Should Trump decide to rename the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf, it is likely that the already slim prospects of a nuclear agreement between Washington and Tehran would be further diminished.
However what is next for Trump and his renaming of places with the Hudson River in New York become the Trump river? Maybe the Greenland to Trumpland you can never be sure