United States President Donald Trump has said he will announce a decision on the official terminology the US government uses for the “Persian Gulf” during his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, reigniting a long-standing regional dispute over the naming of the strategic waterway.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, President Trump stated that he expected the issue to come up during his meetings with Gulf leaders, and that he would be briefed on the matter before taking a final position.
“I’ll have to make a decision,” Mr Trump told reporters. “I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I don’t know if feelings are going to be hurt.”
“I’m going to be given a briefing on that and I’ll make a decision,” he added, when asked whether he would make a formal announcement during the May 13–16 trip — his first to the Middle East since returning to office.
US media outlets earlier reported that Mr Trump was considering announcing a shift in official US terminology from “Persian Gulf” to “Arabian Gulf” or “Gulf of Arabia”, a move likely to provoke strong reactions from Iran.
The waterway, which holds immense geopolitical and economic significance due to its role in global oil transportation, has long been a source of contention between Iran and its Arab neighbours. Iran insists on the term “Persian Gulf”, citing centuries-old historical records and international treaties. In contrast, Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq refer to the waterway as the “Arabian Gulf” or simply “the Gulf”.
Iranian officials swiftly condemned the suggestion of a possible name change. In a statement posted on social media platform X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi termed the potential move “indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people”, and warned that such actions would “only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life”.
“Such biased actions are an affront to all Iranians, regardless of their background or place of residence,” he added. Mr Araghchi further referred to the rumours as a possible “disinformation campaign by ‘forever warriors’ to anger Iranians all over the world and agitate them”.
Tensions over the name are not new. In 2023, Tehran summoned the Iraqi ambassador in protest over Iraq's use of “Arabian Gulf Cup” to refer to a regional football tournament. A decade earlier, in 2012, Iran had threatened to sue Google after the tech giant left the waterway nameless on its online maps service.
The issue carries deep nationalist undertones in Iran, where the name “Persian Gulf” is regarded as a matter of national identity and historical legitimacy. Iranian authorities have repeatedly opposed any deviation from what they describe as the historically and legally accepted nomenclature.
Observers say a shift in US policy could further strain already fragile relations between Washington and Tehran, particularly amid continued tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme and its regional influence.
In a controversial move earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”, prompting widespread debate and criticism from historians and geographers.
While it remains to be seen whether the US administration will formally adopt a new name for the Persian Gulf, analysts warn that such a symbolic decision could have far-reaching diplomatic consequences in an already volatile region.
