Washington, D.C. – On May 7, 2025, Jamal Abdi – President of the National Iranian American Council – sent a letter to President Trump following reports that he plans to rename the Persian Gulf as the “Arabian Gulf.”
As stated in the letter, “…we strongly object to the potential use of the ethnically-divisive term the “Arabian Gulf,” which serves no purpose other than to stoke tensions along ethnic lines and further complicate the difficult but achievable pathway to peace. We urge you to be cognizant of this issue and to ensure that your Administration uses the correct term – the Persian Gulf – when referring to the body of water, and directs the entirety of the federal government and armed services to do so as well.”
The full letter is included below: