US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during a high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia next week. Ahead of his visit, the United States has opted to refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, according to US officials.Since returning to the White House, this will be Trump’s first official foreign trip, aside from a brief visit to Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral. Arab nations have long pushed to change the name of the Persian Gulf, which lies off Iran’s southern coast, but Iran continues to defend the historic name “Persian Gulf.”
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The two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed the information to The Associated Press on Tuesday. The Persian Gulf has been called by that name since the 16th century, but many Middle Eastern countries use “Gulf of Arabia” or “Arabian Gulf.” In 2012, Iran, formerly known as Persia, threatened to sue Google for not naming the water body on its maps.While Google Maps refers to the water body as the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf), Apple Maps only says the Persian Gulf.During Trump’s first term in 2017, a spat broke out when he referred to the waterway as the “Arabian Gulf.” Iran’s then-president, Hassan Rouhani, responded by saying Trump needed to “study geography.”“Everyone knew Trump’s friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is, too,” then-Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif posted on social media at the time.On Wednesday, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also weighed in, saying that the names of Middle East waterways do “not imply ownership by any particular nation, but rather reflect a shared respect for the collective heritage of humanity.”“Politically motivated attempts to alter the historically established name of the Persian Gulf are indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people, and are firmly condemned,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on the social platform X.“Any short-sighted step in this connection will have no validity or legal or geographical effect, it will only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life and political persuasion in Iran, the US and across the world.”“Trump can change the name for official US purposes, but he can’t dictate what the rest of the world calls it. This move comes several months after Trump said the US would refer to the “Gulf of Mexico” as the “Gulf of America,” he added.In addition to Saudi Arabia, President Trump is also set to visit Doha, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—countries that border the Persian Gulf. The trip is part of his effort to strengthen ties with Gulf nations, seeking their financial investment in the US and support in key regional issues, such as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s nuclear program.
