Let's call the Persian Gulf the Persian Gulf, not anything else: Iranian official

 Yusef Jalali 

Press TV, Tehran

The Persian Gulf is Iran's eternal home. This is the theme of this gathering in Tehran, where top officials sat together to celebrate the Persian Gulf National Day.

The occasion marks the anniversary of the expulsion of Portuguese military forces from the Strait of Hormuz back in 1622 by Iranian forces.

The move to designate such a day on the Iranian calendar came in 2004 in response to a wave of efforts by some of Iran's Arab neighbors to change the name of the waterway to the Arabian Gulf.

Observers believe there are political and economic drives behind such attempts.

There are 6,000 historical maps that show that the term Persian Gulf has been used in different languages since 400 B.C.

In 2006, the UN officially recognized the Persian Gulf as the historical and international name of the body of water.

Addressing the ceremony, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said along with efforts to change the name of the strategic body of water, there are also attempts by extraterritorial forces to undermine the security of the Persian Gulf.

The Persian Gulf stretches for some 240,000 square kilometres. Half of this vast expanse belongs to Iran, and the rest is shared by seven littoral countries.

This has earned Iran the responsibility to secure the waterway and the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which hosts one-fifth of the world's oil shipment.

The Persian Gulf is of global significance both geopolitically and economically, as it is one of the major energy hubs in the world.

So the question of why there are efforts to change its name is not hard to answer.

However, to Iranians, the waterway is not just an economic source, but a symbol of national identity and a legacy from the country's ancient civilization.