Iran marked the national Persian Gulf Day on Saturday with festivities at Hormuz Island. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad released a statement praising the organizers of the festival, and expressing hope that such events would help protect the identity of the Persian Gulf [IRNA, 1 May].
Iran refers to the Gulf as Persian; the Arab states of the Gulf refer to it as Arab. 30 April is the anniversary of the victory of Shah Abbas in 1622 over the Portuguese forces occupying Bandar Abbas, now named after him, and territories around the Strait of Hormuz.
"Iran refers to the Gulf as Persian; the Arab states of the Gulf refer to it as Arab."
ReplyDeleteSo if Madagascar stated to refer to the Indian Ocean as the Madagascar Ocean what would that mean? Strange that when the Shah was the West's puppet no one disputed the name of the Persian Gulf, not the Economist, nor the BBC, and certainly not native Iranians.
Wow, even the Portuguese were azabing bichareh Iranians.
ReplyDeleteIn Spanish speaking countries the Persian Gulf has always been called that way and still is, regardless of what they call it in Iran or KSA
ReplyDeleteGifted one,
ReplyDeleteIn the four-year history of this blog, we have carried tens of articles on the Persian Gulf and always referring to the name as Persian Gulf, including in the title of this very post. It’s disheartening how you could attack us on a subject that it is not deserved.
In this post, we also said that the Arabs call the Gulf the Arabian Gulf, while the Iranian call it the Persian Gulf. I was saying a fact, not saying that Arabs are right, they are not and their claim runs against the face of all historical evidences. It’s like the Iranians start referring to the Arabian Sea as the Persian Sea. But mere reporting that the Arabs call the waterway the Arabian Gulf should not be objectionable, don’t you agree?
Anon 7:49 AM,
The Portuguese occupation/colonization of Persian Gulf territories is a fact that the Iranians have not paid much attention to it. To this day, you will find Iranians of Portuguese descent in the area.
Anon 3:00 PM,
Most of the world, with the exception of the Arab nations, the Gulf is referred to as the Persian Gulf. Nasser started this unfortunate and childish move to appeal to the nationalistic sense of the Arab nations.
Nader an attack on your blog is far from what was intended.
ReplyDeleteFrom a loyal reader; please keep up the good work.
Gifted one,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words and continued support.
Saddam Hussein, racist pan Arabs, political lobby groups, revisionists and other academically corrupt entities or individuals call the gulf Arabian or "the Gulf" (Gulf of Mexico? Gulf of Guinea? Gulf of Aden? Gulf of Oman?). But, the rest of the world, the academic world in particular, calls it the Persian Gulf.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that since the distortion of the name Persian Gulf was initiated by England (see Sir Charles Belgrave and Roderick Owen), we shouldn't expect the British state radio/television BBC to call the gulf by its correct name, Persian Gulf.
BBC is operated by the British Crown and is funded by the British tax payers (drones/slaves). It is a corrupt, biased and racist company, has no credibility whatsoever.
During the Iran-Iraq War, Britain was backing racist pan Arabs, which it continues to do today (groups like al-Ahwaz).
During Operation Ajax, the BBC was slandering our democratically elected prime minister, Dr. Mossadegh.
Nothing good comes out of the British Crown and its mouthpiece BBC.