Iran and its Arab neighbours are divided over a name
Iraqis are backing those who call the waterway the Arabian Gulf
ITS WATERS are beguilingly calm. But a tempest is brewing over their name. Iran insists that the waterway that divides the country from its Arab neighbours should be known as the Persian Gulf. Most Western cartographers agree. But across the sea, Arabs are angling for it to be called the Arabian Gulf. (Google Earth hedges its bets by using both names.) A natural barrier for centuries of Arab-Persian rivalry, the waters reflect increasingly troubled relations.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A Gulf apart”
Middle East & Africa January 21st 2023
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