Editorial comment in Gulf-News.com

From: Daniel Pourkesali [mailto:dpourkesali@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 11:56 AM
To: letter2editor@gulfnews.com
Cc: pgtf@iic.org
Subject: [PGO] Editorial comment in Gulf-News.com

Dear Editor of Gulf-News.com,

I 'm writing in regard to the editorial commentary posted on your website at
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/BusinessNF.asp?ArticleID=145736
challenging the proper name for the body of water bound by Iran and the
Arabian Peninsula; historically known only as the Persian Gulf for over two
millenniums.

The author asserts that his claim is backed by 'historically accurate facts'
while failing to present them puzzling the informed reader as which history
and whose facts.

While failing to identify himself, he freely attacks those who insist on
adhering to true historical data. Had he stayed awake through his history
class he might've learned that the only mention of the term 'Arabian Gulf'
in antiquity was by the Greek historians of the first century BC and the
first half of the first century AD referring to an entirely different
stretch of water known today as the Red Sea.

Use of 'Sinus Persicus', latin term for the present day Persian Gulf, has
been documented well over 2500 years ago.

Fast forwarding to 20th century, unless we all missed the name change
ceremony at the United Nations, that international body with its 22 Arab
member countries has on two separate occasions officially declared the
unalterable name of the sea between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula as the
Persian Gulf. The first announcement was made through the document UNAD,
311/Gen on March 5, 1971 and the second was UNLA 45.8.2 (C) on August 10,
1984 reemphasizing that the official name for this geographical area is
Persian Gulf shared by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar,
Kuwait, Iraq, and the non-Arab state of Iran. Moreover, the annual U.N.
conference for coordination on the geographical names has emphatically
repeated the correct name "Persian Gulf" each year.

The author correctly states that historical facts cannot be argued over and
that it is time for reconciliation between Arab nations and Iran not one to
whip up sentiments based on false claims.

I could not agree more.

Best Regards,

Daniel M. Pourkesali
Leesburg, Virginia
703-737-3862