Kuwaiti minister raises a storm over Arabian Gulf

Manama: A senior Kuwaiti government minister has come under fire from a member of parliament, over the use of ‘Persian Gulf' instead of ‘Arabian Gulf' in a booklet issued by the statistics bureau.

"The booklet included statistics about Kuwait in 2010, as well as pictures and the map of the State of Kuwait," MP Waleed Al Tabtabai said in his note to Shaikh Ahmad Al Fahad, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, State Minister for Social Development and State Minister for Housing.

"The map in English had ‘Persian Gulf' instead of ‘Arabian Gulf'. The map was also posted on the website of the statistics bureau. Has there been an investigation into the use of such a name by a government agency? And if so, what was the outcome and the legal action taken against those who are responsible?"

The questions by Al Tabtabai, a conservative politician who has often lead calls for the ‘Arabian Gulf' issue to be resolved, indicated the ongoing dispute between Iran and the Gulf Arab countries over the name of the stretch of water that separates them.

For Al Tabtabai, the issue goes beyond simple differences over what to call the Gulf.

National issue

"It might be a matter of differences in names to us Arabs, but to the Iranians, it is not. In fact, to them, it is a matter of a national issue and regional aspirations," Al Tabtabai said.

"We must be aware not to try to please the Iranians because that would be an unwise policy."

Just last June, the country's education minister, found himself under pressure after a college dean took part in a forum that referred to the waterway between Iranian and Arab countries as the ‘Persian Gulf'.

"The participation of the dean in the forum under this name means that he supports referring to the Gulf as the ‘Persian Gulf', and this is a challenge to Kuwait," Al Tabtabai said.

Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have often been at odds over the name of the waterway.

Tehran has vehemently insisted on calling it the ‘Persian Gulf' and has taken action against publications referring to it by the correct name.

The Arabian Gulf, which lies to the east of the Arab countries and west of Iran, gets its name from the fact that its waters lap the shores of Arab countries — the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iraq.

In December, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, Bahrain's Foreign Minister said the issue should not be overemphasised and that it was only about a body of water.

"I have heard a variety of names, such as ‘Arabian Gulf', ‘Gulf of the Arabs', ‘Persian Gulf', etc. It is just a body of water," he said at the Manama Dialogue.

The Gulf has an area of 233,100 square kilometres and extends 970 kilometres from the Shatt Al Arab delta to the Strait of Hormuz, which links it with the Gulf of Oman.

Maps of the region

Tehran said, at the time, that it was banning the new edition of the atlas, as well as National Geographic magazine, until maps of the Gulf region were modified to its satisfaction.

In January, the Saudi-based Islamic Solidarity Games Federation cancelled the Islamic Solidarity Games planned to be held in Tehran, after Iran put ‘Persian Gulf' on the logo.

The games, meant to strengthen unity among the 57 member states, were originally scheduled for October 2009, but were postponed in an attempt to reach a compromise.