Letter to New Zealand Defence Force
Dear Distinguished Members,
The reference to the invented term "Arabian Gulf" in your
Web site;
http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/medals/warrants/c6nzgsm-arabiangulf.htm
is historically and legally incorrect. The correct designation is the
Persian Gulf.
The United Nations has twice recognized the legality of the term "Persian
Gulf" (UNAD 311/March 5, 1971 and UNLA 45.8.2 (c) on August 10,
1984). It is significant that all Arab countries have signed the UN
documents. For further information consult the following links:
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/westasia.pdf
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/iran.pdf
http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/maplib/docs/escwa.pdf
Note that U.S. Department of State also refers to the correct legal
and historically valid term Persian Gulf. For reference please consult:
http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c2422.htm
http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c2404.htm
Arab scholars up to the 1960s have also referred to the body of water
as per its correct name "Kahleej-ol-Faris" (Persian Gulf)
(see George Hourani's "Arab Seafaring: In the Indian Ocean in Ancient
and Early Medieval Times", Princeton University Press, 1995). For
further information you may consult:
http://www.persiangulfonline.org/maps.htm
The "Arabian Gulf" actually referred to the present-day Red
Sea in antiquity (see Herodotus). The invention of "Arabian Gulf"
with respect to its historically incorrect reference to the Persian
Gulf was initiated by Sir Charles Belgrave (advisor to the Emir of Bahrain
in 1926) who made the formal proposal to change the name of Persian
Gulf in 1937 - the initiative was rejected by the British government
at the time. For a popular reference regarding Sir Belgrave's activities,
see TIME Magazine's August 27, 1956 entitled "The Uncontrollable
Genie). Sir Belgrave's failure did not restrain Mr. Roderic Owen (an
employee of British Petroleum in the 1950s) from reviving the project
of name change for the Persian Gulf.
The misapplication of terms, such as using the old term for the Red
Sea (Arabian Gulf) instead of Persian Gulf, was an ingenious step in
creating geopolitical and popular friction between Arabs and Iranians.
The term "Arabian Gulf" is a geopolitical .invention devoid
of historical context or meaning; it is also illegal (see aforementioned
UN actions).
Note that the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has removed all
references to "Arabian Gulf" and now correctly refers to the
body of water as The Persian Gulf. This is the result of a contact made
to Russ Germain (Broadcast Language advisor, CBC Radio Canada) almost
3 years ago. On Monday Feb.11, 2002, Mr. Germain recommended that all
references to "Arabian Gulf" be removed from CBC broadcasts
in favour of the legal and correct term, Persian Gulf. I can forward
a transcript of that communication to you upon request.
To quote Russ Germain with regard to the aforementioned letter, the
incorrect Belgrave-Owen term "Arabian Gulf" is mainly the
result of a "successful public relations campaign undertaken in
the name of geopolitical interests".
It would be appreciated that the geographical error be rectified as
soon as possible. Your attention to this matter is most appreciated.
Yours truly
Dr. Kaveh Farrokh
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia - Canada
