Historical Background of the Name Persia Gulf
Arab League states, the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and some other Arab countries repeatedly make claims over the Iranian triple islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb and the name “Persian Gulf”. By passing enactments and even sending them to UN Secretary General, infrequently, they demand for their release as official documents of UN Security Council.
The most recent measure in this regard was supporting U.A.E's territorial claims and using "Arabian Gulf" in the final declaration of the Arab League Summit in Syria. Also, Google has divided Persian Gulf into two northern and southern sections named Persian Gulf and Arabian Gulf respectively, a move definitely void of any historical basis. Following this, Iranians launched a "one-million signatures" campaign in order to force Google revert the name to Persian Gulf.
On April 14, 2008 in Friday prayers, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran, pointed to the attempts of "friend and neighbor" countries for changing the name of Persian Gulf and their allegations over the triple islands. Hashemi stated: "Iran is always ready to negotiate, [but] this is definitely intrigue by outsiders. In every conference, an article is dedicated to the islands or the name of Persian Gulf. This is a historical mistake and I think negotiation is the best solution".
Referring to the history of the name "Persian Gulf" and attempts to change this name, Hashemi Rafsanjani said: "recently the Iranology Foundation has published an invaluable book on Persian Gulf which contains 120 maps belonging to Europeans and 40 maps of Islamic countries. The maps confirm that since 400 b.c. the name of this gulf has always been Persian Gulf. Probably at the last years of Ottoman rule because of disputes with Iran over Basra they forged the name of this gulf and later the British after Iran nationalized its oil industry followed the same policy to cause unrest."
In the following, Hashemi Rafsanjani presented a new view towards the name of Persian Gulf based on Qur'anic teachings, stating that according to some exegetes the sea referred to in the Kahf Chapter of the Holy Qur'an is the Persian Gulf. He added: "I advise our Muslim brothers, especially the clerics to look at these exegeses. We never want to fight on names but do we want [others] to become a puppet and bring discord. As it is obvious others can research and argue against what I'm saying if they don't accept it."
Background of "Persian Gulf"
Persian Gulf is a waterway which is an extension of the Indian Ocean, between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. It covers an area of 233,000 square kilometers which makes it the third biggest gulf of the world after Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay. From east through Straight of Hormoz and Gulf of Oman the Persian Gulf reaches the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea and from west it reaches the Arvand Delta which is formed by confluence of Tigris and Euphrates and later, Karun.
The name "Persian Gulf" has can be observed in some of the oldest sources that date back to centuries before Christ's birth and it is inseparable from the ancient name of Iran: Persia. The name Arabian Gulf which is of course a forged name has had a limited usage.
Frequently in its declarations, amendments, resolutions and official maps, the United Nations has asked for use of "Persian Gulf". The organization has also demanded international bodies to use the complete name "Persian Gulf" (not "the Gulf" as some tend to use) in their official correspondence, especially in documents related to United Nations.
History of attempted forges
Up to 1960s, there were no disputes over the name of this body of water and all European, Asian and American sources, including the encyclopedias and geographical maps knew this waterway as the Persian Gulf.
"Arabian Gulf" was used for the first time by British agents when emirates of Persian Gulf were under the mandate of United Kingdom. Roderick Owen was the first person who used this name in his book "the Golden Bubble of the Arabian Gulf" in 1958. In his book the British diplomat had written that he had observed no name other than Persian Gulf in geographical books and maps, but since during his years of service in southern coasts he had found out that the inhabitants of the [southern] coast are Arab, it was more polite to call it Arabian Gulf. Charles Belgrave, the British advisor to the emir of Bahrain also used this name to cause dispute between Iran and Arab countries.
After returning to Britain, Belgrave who had been an agent and political representative in Persian Gulf for more than 30 years wrote a book in 1966 about the southern coasts of the Persian Gulf and declared that Arabs prefer to name the gulf "Arabian Gulf".
Immediately after Belgrave's book -titled Pirate Coast (common name for the southern coasts of Persian Gulf) - was published, "Arabian Gulf" found a widespread use in Arabic newspapers and entered the official correspondences in English, replacing the authentic "Persian Gulf".
Iran's reaction
In response to the final declaration of Arab League Summit in Syria, Iran's permanent representative to UN delivered a letter to UN Security Council, reminding that the triple islands (Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunbs) are an eternal part of Iran's territory. He also mentioned usage of the false name "Arabian Gulf" in the declaration.
As the letters says: "once again the Islamic Republic of Iran reminds that the only genuine historical name for this body of water has been and will be the Persian Gulf and this fact is confirmed by the United Nations. Therefore, any use of forged names as the one mentioned in the letter of the Observer Representative of Arab League is totally unacceptable and lacks any legal or political value."
Here we should raise a question: Does this long-time held view of Arab summits towards Persian Gulf and the triple islands root in others' attempts to bring division or there are other factors involved? The answer is quite important if we remember Iran's efforts during the recent years to enhance relations with Arab countries, especially those of the Persian Gulf.
Iranian and Arab officials who travel between Tehran and Arab capitals to discuss bilateral ties always depict a positive image of the mode of relations but what happens in reality is another story.