Iran protests to Iraq over naming of ‘Arabian Gulf’ soccer tournament

Tehran insists vital oil shipping lane should be called ‘Persian Gulf’; matter has been bone of contention between Iran and Arab neighbors for years

By AFP 11 January 2023, 1:06 pm

Edit

Supporters cheer from the stands during the Arabian Gulf Cup football match between Iraq and Saudi Arabia at the Basra International Stadium in Basra, Iraq, on January 9, 2023. (Hussein Faleh / AFP)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has protested to Iraq over the use of the name “Arabian Gulf” for a regional soccer competition held in the neighboring country, state media reported Wednesday.

The Islamic Republic insists the body of water should be called the “Persian Gulf” and has repeatedly raised the issue with countries and organizations that refer to it otherwise.

Iraq on Friday welcomed Arab national teams from across the region to its southern city of Basra for the 25th edition of the competition officially known as the Arabian Gulf Cup.

It is the first time Iraq has hosted the biennial competition — commonly referred to as the “Gulf Cup” — since it was launched in 1979.

“We summoned the Iraqi ambassador” on Sunday over the issue, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

“Although we have strategic, brotherly and deep relations with Iraq, we have clearly expressed our protest about this issue,” he said.

“We reflected the sensitivity of the great nation of Iran to the use of the exact and complete term of Persian Gulf to the Iraqi side.”

Kuwait supporters attend the Arabian Gulf Cup football match between Kuwait and Qatar at the Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium in Iraq’s southern city of Basra on January 7, 2023. (Hussein Faleh / AFP)

The name of the vital oil shipping lane has for years been a bone of contention between Iran and its Arab neighbors.

The 2010 edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games, due to have taken place in Tehran, was postponed and later canceled over the dispute.

In the same year, Iran warned that airlines using the term Arabian Gulf on inflight maps would be barred from its airspace.

In 2016, Oman Air switched off a map that labeled the waterway as the Persian Gulf, after a storm of criticism on social media.

In 2012, Iran criticized internet giant Google for leaving the waterway nameless on its online map services, which now refer to it as the “Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf).”