Persian Gulf is our lifeline: Iran's Zarif
ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency
Tue / 30 April 2019 / 15:20
Tehran (ISNA) – Commemorating Persian Gulf National Day, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said, "Persian Gulf is our lifeline".
In a short video posted on his official Instagram page, Zarif commemorated April 30 marking Persian Gulf National Day in Iran and insisted on the crucial importance of the Persian Gulf and its historical name.
The date coincides with the anniversary of Shah Abbas I of Persia's successful military campaign when the Portuguese navy was driven out of the Strait of Hormuz in the Capture of Ormuz (1622).
The national occasion is meant to call attention to the fact that the inland sea has been referred to by historians and ancient texts as the Persian Gulf since the Achaemenid Empire was established in what is now modern day Iran.
Stressing that the Persian Gulf is the "lifeline" of Iranian people, Zarif criticized some countries and people that try to change the name of the Persian Gulf and said, "Some people call it 'Gulf', while I emphasize that its name is 'Persian Gulf' and we constantly repeat it so that people understand that its name is Persian Gulf".
Mentioning that some people call the gulf as "Arabian Gulf", the top diplomat said, "People who do so, want to change the history".
The Persian Gulf which spans some 250,000 square kilometers is bounded by the Arvand River in the north, which forms the frontier between Iran and Iraq, and the Strait of Hormuz in the south, which links the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.
The Persian Gulf is also important as an international trade route connecting the Middle East to Africa, India and China.
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