DOES the Gulf have a Persian identity? This question popped into my mind after finding out that the Iranian government has deported a Greek airhost for using the phrase ‘Arabian Gulf’ aboard an Iranian airliner. The government has also advised operators of airplanes plying the route to ensure the use of Persian Gulf for the region. Does the Gulf have an Islamic identity according to the wish of some people to avoid the problem of name differences?
We are not trying to discriminate by searching for the real, historical and geographical name of the Gulf. We should not allow self-interest to overcome reality, and political differences must not overshadow the truth. The Gulf had long belonged to the Arabs, even before the advent of Islam, and its existence superseded the 19th century imperialism in Persia. The British imperialists of the 19th century extended Iran towards the Gulf, which covered Arab enclosures in 1925 and was completed through the annexation of three Emirates islands in the 1970s. It is impossible for an occupier to enforce its identity on any territory because this step is against traditions and norms governing international relations. It is also against Islamicdoctrine, which is currently being used by the Tehran regime to actualize its annexation goals.
Yes, the Gulf has an Arabian identity not because we want it or to counter Iran dictatorship but due to the pieces of historical evidence that dispel the Persian claim. Farsi is not even the main language in Iran, since only the minority speaks it. The Persian nation was a name attached to all regions where Farsi was spoken in the past, while none of the Arab nations fall under this category. The Arabs maintained their identities during the ancient wars, so how can an occupier enforce his identity? Does the intention of the Iranian regime not tantamount to annexation?  
 The most dangerous aspect of the Iranian struggle is the intention to enforce the annexationist expression, which the Iranian leaders propagate in Iran as the ‘Gulf Arab’ and imbibed by some Arabs without knowing its full implications. To set the record straight, Arabs are not a minority in their natural habitat for anybody to call them Gulf Arabs. The Iranians, who are the minority in the Arabian Gulf territory, should rather be named ‘Gulf Persians’ without exaggeration. By so doing, we have said the truth to the Iranian expansionists. We have history and geography, while economic and social realities, including religion if you wish, exist between us.
No superpower can enforce its identity on us. We will never accept any fake announcement which tries to strip our identity due to imaginary objectives. The Arabian Gulf is not only a piece of water or land surrounded by water without human beings, because people have been living there from time immemorial. The economic, social, political and cultural activities are not Persian in nature, so it can never be Persian by any chance due to interest of the Iranian government to implement the plans of Shah.
This is why we have been reconsidering all statements issued by the Tehran leadership on neighboring and goodwill relations. The Iranian nuclear project has proven beyond doubt that the regime is actualizing the militarization objectives of Shah to occupy the entire region. It is then necessary for all Arabs to pronounce the Gulf as a territory that belongs to them.
Finally, will the Tehran leaders answer this question? Why does the regime claim that Israel aspires for effacement of Quds and Palestine, while moving in the same direction to change the identity of the Arabian Gulf? Does this not make Iran and Israel two sides of a coin?

Email: ahmed@aljarallah.com