Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf?

The Middle-East. Known to many as a region plagued by violent conflicts about land, resources and ethno-religious tensions. But here you can also find a conflict about something else: a Name. This rather unusual dispute revolves around the waters dividing the Arabian Peninsula from Iran. On the one side of this conflict, we have Iran, which stresses that the term "Persian Gulf" is the only correct name for these waters, as it's been in use since antiquity and derived from the ancient empires of Iran, which dominated the region for centuries. On the other side we have a coalition of Arab states, which argue that the proper name of this gulf should be the "Arabian Gulf".

An idea, that became popular with the rise of Arab nationalism in the 1950s and is supposed to reflect the Arab character of the region. Although this issue might seem silly at first - in truth - it is a serious conflict with a surprising impact on regional and even international politics. So, let's find out more about this unusual dispute. How did it develop? And what political impact does it have? To really understand this issue, we need to first take a look at the wider history of the gulf and the names attached to it. The term Persian Gulf appears in recorded history for the first time in antiquity, used for example by the Roman-Greek historian Strabo.

The name refers to the Persians, who had originated in the region of Persis and had built a massive empire in the past. Persian dominance around the gulf persisted throughout most of antiquity, only being interrupted by Alexander the Great's conquests of the Achaemenids and the following rule of his generals and their dynasties. But once the Greeks were gone, the region around the gulf would again be dominated by Iranian empires. First by the Parthians and then later by the Persian Sasanians. However, the region would change forever in the 7th century with the beginning of the Arab conquests and the subsequent arrival of Islam, which would establish itself as the new dominant religion in the entire region.

This not only shifted the power dynamics of the region away from Persian and Iranian dominance to an Arab one, but also changed the ethnic composition of the gulf region, as various Arab groups would begin settling in Southern Iran. Nonetheless, the name Persian Gulf or variations of it remained widely in use across the Old World. In the early 16th century, the Portuguese established their presence on the number of islands in the gulf to better access the spice trade of the Indian ocean. During this time, they produced many maps of the region and usually displayed a name referencing Persia.

But as time moved on, alternative names appeared as well. In the same century, the Ottoman Empire expanded into Mesopotamia, gaining access to the gulf near the city of Basra. Subsequently, the Ottomans coined the waters the "Sea of Basra", which continues to be the name of the gulf in modern day Turkish. However, also in the 16th century, the Safavids had recreated a powerful and this time Islamic Iranian empire, bringing a unified Iranian power back to the region after being gone for almost a millennium. The Safavids began to rival the Ottomans and also kicked out the Portuguese on Hormuz, asserting dominance over the gulf's Northern banks, including the local Arab tribes.

 The reappearance of a strong Iranian state helped repolarize the term Persian Gulf in the following centuries. Meanwhile, much of the Arab world would fall under foreign rule, mainly under the Ottomans, and later under the British and French. This circumstance would inevitably intensify the first waves of Arab nationalism, which would unfold in the 20th century. Here, we'll find the origins of the modern naming dispute. As nationalism increased, the idea to call these waters the Arabian Gulf began to become very popular among many Arab independence leaders.

This term not only implied Arab cultural and political dominance over the waterway, but also challenged the regional ambitions of Iran, which between 1925 and 1979, was ruled by the Pahlavi dynasty. They too were grappled by waves of nationalism and sought to dominate the region as the ancient Persian empires once did. The name Arabian Gulf was heavily promoted in the 1950s and 60s with two main arguments: Firstly, Arab leaders argued that the term Persian Gulf was simply outdated, as the ancient Iranian empires - which long ago dominated the entire gulf region - were no more.

 And secondly, they argued that instead of referring to dead empires, the name should reflect the people group who live along most of its shoreline today: the Arabs, who not only live in the Arab states next to the gulf, but also at the gulf's Northern shore in Iran. With the basic history and arguments out of the way, what are the contemporary positions of Iran and the Arab states in this conflict? Well, Iran's position remains clear: The name Persian Gulf is the only acceptable name for this body of water. Businesses and organizations operating in Iran are required by law to use this name.

Its insistence on the name is in part emotional: Many Iranians, regardless of whether they're ethnic Persians or part of one of Iran's many other ethnic groups, see the name Persian Gulf as being deeply connected to their national identity and pride, and a testament to the cultural and civilizational significance of their country since antiquity. The attempt to change the name into Arabian Gulf is therefore not only seen by Iranians as an insult, but also as a malicious way to minimize and erase Iranian history and achievements.

A similar emotional factor can also be found among many Arab states: Many Arabs feel that foreign powers have wronged their people in the past and prevented them from manifesting as one united nation, and among those foreign powers is also Iran, which subjugated the Arabs at the gulf's Northern shores. By having the gulf named Persian Gulf, many Arabs will argue that their cultural and civilizational presence around the gulf is actively being diminished and erased. Therefore, they claim that the term Arabian Gulf would reflect the people of the region more faithfully.

But of course, this conflict goes beyond emotions and has implications for the geo-strategic situation in the region. For decades now, both Iran and the Arab gulf states have struggled to gain dominance in the gulf, which is among the most important waterways in the world. It is estimated that the gulf holds around 55% of global oil reserves. This makes it one of the most valuable and strategic regions in the world. Linked to that is also the issue of the Tunb’s in Abu Musa, three small islands scattered near the Strait of Hormuz, which are controlled by Iran - but claimed by the United Arab Emirates. The name Persian Gulf gives credence to Iran's claim, while the name Arab Gulf would give more credence to the United Arab Emirates claim. Because of the combined emotional, economic and political importance of the gulf, both sides are absolutely unwilling to compromise. Suggestions like calling it the "Persian-Arab Gulf", the "Islamic Gulf" or simply "The Gulf" are considered unacceptable, which makes staying neutral in this naming conflict very difficult. That is especially true when looking at other Arab states, which all have different opinions on this issue.

Many of them are attempting to stay neutral. Iraq for instance only refers to these waters as the "Gulf" in official documents, while Oman uses both Persian Gulf and Arabian Gulf, depending on the situation. Internationally, governments and international organizations are overwhelmingly on Iran's side of this argument. The United Nations has made the use of the term Persian Gulf mandatory within the organization. While that might suggest that Iran has basically won this conflict already, it is in fact not that simple. The increasing global influence of the gulf states has led to the term Arab Gulf gaining ground.  The United States for instance has had a clear stance on this issue since 1917: Namely, that this gulf is called the Persian Gulf. But due to the breakdown of relations between the United States and Iran following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, as well as the intensified cooperation of the Arab gulf states in the last decades, this might slowly change.

 In recent years, several branches of the US military have begun using the term Arabian Gulf. And in 2017, then president of the US Trump even used the term during a press conference, saying: "It harasses American ships and threatens freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf and in the Red Sea". This immediately raised suspicions, that the United States could reverse its official stance on the issue in the near future and fully embrace the new name. However, it did not happen in the end. But if that should happen at some point, Arab soft power could also lead to even more governments adopting the term - to the detriment of Iran.