Iran has summoned the Iraqi ambassador to protest over Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani's use of the term “Arabian Gulf” to describe the Gulf Cup football tournament in Basra.
Iran refers to the waterway that separates Iraq, Iran and the Gulf Co-operation Council countries as the Persian Gulf.
“We conveyed to the Iraqi side the sensitivity the great Iranian nation has about the use of the accurate and complete designation of the Persian Gulf,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a report carried by state news agency IRNA on Wednesday.
“Despite having strategic, fraternal, and deep relations with Iraq, we have openly conveyed our protest with regards to the issue.”
Iran is not a participant in the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, which kicked off on January 6 and will run until January 19.
Iraqi Shiite Leader Moqtada Al Sadr also welcomed guests from “Arab Gulf states” in a tweet a day before the tournament kicked off.
Iranian MP Alireza Salimi has asked that Mr Al Sudani and Mr Al Sadr both apologise for their use of the term.
The term Arabian Gulf was adopted by Arab states in the 1960s and has been widely used ever since. Iran has banned publications that refer to the Gulf as “Arabian”.
The Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet also refers to the waters as the Arabian Gulf.
“It is commonly understood to be a friendly gesture of solidarity and support for our host nation of Bahrain and our other Gulf Cooperation Council partners in the region to use the term they prefer,” 5th Fleet spokesman Commander Kevin Stephens told The New York Times in 2016.
