AP: Trump wants to rename the Persian Gulf

The US President Donald Trump plans to announce during his visit to Saudi Arabia next week that the United States will now refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf, or the Arabian Gulf.

This is reported by the Associated Press, citing sources.

Arab countries have long sought to change the geographical name of this water area, which is located south of Iran, while Iran insists on its historical name.

The Persian Gulf has been known by this name since the 16th century, although in many Middle Eastern countries the names “Arabian Gulf” or “Arabian Gulf” are more common. The government of Iran—a country formerly known as Persia — threatened to sue Google in 2012 for not including the name of the gulf on its maps.

On Google Maps in the US, this body of water is labeled as the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). On Apple Maps, it is simply labeled as the Persian Gulf.

The US military has been unilaterally using the name Arabian Gulf in its statements and images for many years.

The name of the gulf is emotionally significant for Iranians, who revere the centuries-old history of the Persian Empire. During Trumpʼs first term as president in 2017, a scandal erupted when he called the body of water the Arabian Gulf. Then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani advised Trump to "study geography".

• This is not the first geographical renaming since Trump returned to the White House. In January, he renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and returned the name McKinley to Denali, the highest mountain in the United States.

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