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| Tuesday, 23 November 2004 |
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The Gulf is Persian, warns Iran TEHRAN, Monday (AFP) Anyone who thinks that stretch of water between Iran and the Arabian peninsula is called the "Arabian Gulf" or simply the "Gulf" should think again, with Iranian authorities stepping up their campaign to keep it well and truly "Persian". In the latest twist of the long simmering spat, the prestigious US publication National Geographic has been banned from sale and barred from sending reporters to Iran after it decided to print the words "Arabian Gulf" in an atlas. The Iranian culture ministry's head of foreign press affairs, Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, told AFP the ban would stay in place until National Geographic "corrects its error". "We have asked the foreign ministry to make a complaint. We will not accept the use of the false term 'Arabian Gulf', which is contrary to United Nations documents. We will act against any media using this term," he warned. "We will defend the historic identity of the Persian Gulf. We will not accept any distortion and will take legal measures," said government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh at his weekly press conference. Top national security official Hassan Rowhani has also added his voice to the uproar, and the national press has carried a petition that emphasises the time honoured international standard is the "Persian Gulf" and nothing else. In addition to its sin, National Geographic's map also referred to three islands - Abu Mussa and Greater and Lesser Tomb - as "islands occupied by Iran and claimed by the United Arab Emirates". Iran has controlled the islands since 1971. |
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