US President Donald Trump reportedly plans to announce during his visit to Saudi Arabia next week that his country will now refer to the sea between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia.
The move, reported by AP, aligns with long-standing efforts by Arab nations to change the name of the strategic waterway, which Iran has long called the Persian Gulf.
The dispute over the naming has been a persistent diplomatic flashpoint between Iran and its Arab neighbours.
"They’re going to ask me about that when I get there [Saudi Arabia], and I’m going to have to make a decision," Mr Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the potential announcement.
The Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet refers to the waters as the Arabian Gulf.
The naming issue has become deeply politicised. In 2012, Iran threatened legal action against Google after the company omitted the waterway's name on its maps.
Tensions flared in 2017 when Mr Trump used "Arabian Gulf" during his first term, prompting Hassan Rouhani, Iran's president at the time, to suggest he needs to “study geography".
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated Tehran’s stance on social media, saying that "politically motivated attempts" to alter the name of the Gulf "are indicative of hostile intent towards Iran and its people, and are firmly condemned".
The Iranian mission to the UN said “realities do not change by decisions made in the Oval Office”.
The move follows Mr Trump's earlier statement that the US would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
