Trump has reportedly decided that the Persian Gulf will not be renamed to 'Arabian Gulf, following pressure from Iran and backlash from Iranian opposition groups, who criticized the move as undoing 'millenia of history'.
Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf
Several days ago, various news outlets reported that U.S. President Donald Trump was planning to change the name of the Persian Gulf to the 'Arabian Gulf'. The renaming was supposed to take place during Trump's visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh during his trip to the Middle East.
The body of water, located between Iran and various Arab states, has historically been called the Persian Gulf since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the various Arab monarchies in the Persian Gulf region became increasingly frustrated by this name, instead referring to it as the 'Arabian Gulf'.
Trump, who stated that the United States has a 'special relationship' with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states, wanted to rename the body of water in order to please the major U.S. allies in the region, just months after he also renamed the Gulf of Mexico to 'Gulf of America'.
Iranian Pressure
Today, CNN reported that President Trump is no longer planning to rename the Persian Gulf. According to sources, the President decided to hold off on the move after Iranian officials made it clear that Iran would condemn the move in the 'strongest way possible'. Iran is said to have threatened that it would withdraw from ongoing nuclear talks with the United States if Trump went ahead with the renaming.
In addition to the Iranian government, several Iranian opposition movements abroad also rejected the proposal to rename the Gulf. Even the disgraced and exiled Iranian Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, condemned the move, stating that the Persian Gulf is a symbol of Iranian identity and 'rooted in thousands of years of history'.
When asked about the renaming proposal, Trump stated:
I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings.
President Donald Trump