Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh announced that the country has sent a protest note to the Russian Foreign Ministry for referring to the "Persian Gulf" as the "Arabian Gulf."
The Islamic Republic News Agency reported the diplomat stating, "A protest note was sent to the Russian Foreign Ministry via our embassy in Moscow." Khatibzadeh explained that this was due to the use of "Arabian Gulf" in the Arabic version of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Twitter account during a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Iraqi Ambassador Abdul Rahman Al-Husseini.
The dispute between Iran and Arab countries over the naming of the waterway dates back to the 1960s with the rise of the Arab League, during which the name Arabian Gulf became commonly used in Arab countries.
