You say Arabian, I say Persian

Posted By Andrew Swift Monday, February 22, 2010 - 1:17 PM Share

As if there weren't enough controversies over Middle Eastern geography, Iran has lashed out recently on the name of the waterway to its south, most commonly called the Persian Gulf.

Tehran's ire first arose when a Greek steward, working for an Iranian domestic airline, scuffled with passengers over the usage of Arabian Gulf on the plane's in-flight monitors. He reportedly threatened to arrest passengers who had protested the alternate name, and the altercation escalated into a heated verbal exchange. The attendant was later fired for his "inappropriate and irresponsible behavior."

(Interestingly, in the Tehran Times write-up of the affair, the Arabian Gulf is four times referred to as the "forged term")

Furthermore, Iran has now warned that if airlines use the alternative term, they will be banned from using Iranian airspace:

The airlines of the southern Persian Gulf countries flying to Iran are warned to use the term Persian Gulf on their electronic display boards.

Otherwise they will be banned from Iranian airspace for a month the first time and upon repetition their aircraft will be grounded in Iran and flight permits to Iran will be revoked.

Let's just be thankful there isn't an Iran-Arab dispute over the in-flight meal.

EXPLORE:MIDDLE EAST, IRAN

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