The US president has said he will announce decisions regarding the waterways during his trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
President Donald Trump said during his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates he will make a decision on how the US will refer to the “Persian Gulf.”
Speaking to a White House reporter on Wednesday, Trump said he hopes the hosts will ask about the names the US will use for the waterways during his first trip to the Middle East after seizing the White House.
“I have to make a decision,” Trump said in response to a question about whether or not to announce the name of the water.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I don’t know if their feelings will hurt.”
“I’ll be given an explanation about it, and I’ll make a decision,” Trump added.
Trump’s comments came after US media reported that they had used the May 13-16 trip to announce that the US would be called the Arabian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf.
The name of the waterway was the source of tensions between the Arab states and Iran.
Iran claims that the “Persian Gulf” is an appropriate name in light of historical evidence, including ancient maps, indicating that it is part of its territory.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and other Arab countries use the terms “Arabian Gulf” or “Gulf Coast.”
In 2023, Tehran summoned an ambassador for Iraq and protested its own country’s use of the name “Arabian Gulf Cup” for the regional flagship football tournament.
In 2012, Iran threatened to sue internet giant Google for leaving the waterway unknown with its online map service.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragut denounced the latest proposal for a name change as “showing an intention of hostility towards Iran and its people,” warning that such a move “will bring “every Iranian anger from all life.”
“That biased behavior is a humiliation for all Iranians, regardless of their background or place of residence,” Araguchi said in an X post early on Thursday.
The name Persian Gulf, like many geographical designations, is deeply rooted in human history. Iran has never opposed the use of names such as the Omani Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, or the Red Sea. The use of these names does not imply ownership by any particular country, but…pic.twitter.com/pqjuiph4qt
– May 7, 2025, Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi)
“I hope that the ridiculous rumors about the Persian Gulf around us are nothing more than a disinformation campaign by “eternal warriors” that anger and upset Iranians around the world. ”
In one of his first actions as president, Trump in January signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico “The Gulf of America.”