Iran sharply condemned President Donald Trump’s reported plans to start referring to the Persian Gulf as the “Gulf of Arabia” or the “Arabian Gulf” in his latest push to expand his global stamp.
Iran sharply condemned President Donald Trump’s reported plans to start referring to the Persian Gulf as the “Gulf of Arabia” or the “Arabian Gulf” in his latest push to expand his global stamp.
A lot of it is bluster. But it’s also illustrative of how these names get laid out in the first place. Why is it called Iran and not Persia? Why do so many South American cities and territories have Spanish names? Why is Old New York not called New Amsterdam?
A few bureaucrats in positions of authority can rewrite the map with impunity.
A better question is why was it called Persia and not Iran?