Iranian-Iraqi controversy over naming the Gulf!

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[size=52]Iranian-Iraqi controversy over naming the Gulf![/size]

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A football tournament is held, usually without problems, every two years in which national teams compete to win the “Arab Gulf Cup”, and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council participate in it in addition to Yemen and Iraq, but its twenty-fifth edition, which is currently taking place in the Iraqi city of Basra, prompted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Iranian authorities summoned the Iraqi ambassador to protest against the Iraqi authorities' use of a "fictitious term," as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, instead of using the term Persian Gulf.
This great reaction would not have happened, most likely, if the championship had taken place in a country other than Iraq, which means that the dispute is not related to the well-known Iranian sensitivity about naming the Gulf only, but also related to the use of official Iraqi figures, including Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani. , the head of the government close to Iran, for the term "Arabian Gulf", which Iraqi newspapers described as "Baghdad's insolence."
It seems that the matter is also related to the sensitivity of Iraq’s rapprochement with the Arab Gulf states, as Tehran, as is well known, has heated political and security issues with these countries on more than one front, and it is natural for it to consider Baghdad’s rapprochement with those countries, individually or Together, even if it was on a sports, tourism, or economic level, it is an indication of the possibility of political rapprochement, which would prejudice the “distinguished” relationship between Iran and Iraq.
The exchanged statements between Iraq and Iran added more spice to the cooking of political sensitivities. After a statement by the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who welcomed the “honorable Arab guests from the Arab Gulf countries,” it seemed that Iran had also invested in the event by sending a telegram of congratulations after the victory of the Iraqi team ( Which she called the “brotherly team of Iraq”) on the Saudi team, with the phrase Persian Gulf, and she also used the term “Arvand” for the Shatt al-Arab, which is an Iraqi corridor that represents the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
The two sides used forms of historical debate, as the Iranians relied on the references of historians who named the region the Persian Gulf, while the Arabs resorted to the geographical debate, which spoke of the fact that the Arab coast on the Gulf extends 3490 km, while the Iranian coast extends over 2440 km, in addition to the bordering Arab countries There are seven Arab countries on the Gulf compared to Iran, which speaks Persian, as some have reminded that the residents of a large part of Ahwaz, the Iranian region of the Gulf, are also Arabs.
Regardless of history and geography, it is certain that the intense tension surrounding the two terms is linked, to a large extent, to the internal and external policies of the various parties. Iraqis have warned that Tehran's resort to summoning the Iraqi ambassador and reprimanding Iraqi officials is an exaggeration by international norms, as described by Iranian newspapers. What is happening with insolence, as the Iraqi media saw that the exaggeration of the reaction is an attempt to divert attention from the internal events, which are the first events of interest to Iranian officials.
Regardless of historical and geographical revisions, and even political disputes, all parties must accept the idea that the sovereignty of states includes the use of whatever names they please for their lands, coasts, and skies, not trying to impose terms on others, as Iran is free to name the Gulf in Persian, just as Arabs are free In naming it the Arabian Gulf.[/size]
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