Wrong move at the wrong time from Iran

This could be just plain stupidity, but nevertheless the Iranian minister of transport is really going overboard with his latest warning that foreign airlines will be banned from flying over his country's airspace if they use the name "Arabian Gulf."

Hamid Behbahani's outrageous statement came one day after the sacking of a Greek Kish Airlines flight attendant after he "angered Iranian passengers" by using the name Arabian Gulf. Iran maintains the vital waterway should be called "the Persian Gulf."

For long, the issue of naming the Gulf has been a contentious point on both shores. But it has always been more of an academic argument, where experts from both sides of the Gulf talk of "historical evidence" supporting their positions.

The Arabs believe they have the right to call the Gulf Arabian. But they never tried to impose their conviction on Muslim neighbour Iran.

The issue has never been a cause of political discord. And it should not. The region has enough political tension already.

By warning airlines — mostly Arab carriers — that they will be prevented from flying over Iran, or that their aircraft will be "impounded," as the minister was quoted by the BBC as saying, Iran threatens to raise this issue to a higher and dangerous level.

Moreover, the Iranian warning comes at a time when the UAE and other Gulf states are trying to put Israeli crime in the spotlight internationally following the heinous murder of a Hamas official in Dubai. Why would Iran want to divert political and media attention towards such a silly issue? Iran is only serving the interests of those who thrive on regional tensions. Is it a coincidence that the latest Iranian move came shortly after the end of the Yemeni war against the Al Houthi rebels, which was a source of tension between Gulf states and Iran? What is the message Tehran is trying to send here?