Another gulf name game?

People walking near a banner depicting Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani (centre), who was killed in a US drone attack in 2020, as well as other slain leaders, in Teheran, Iran. — Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times

US President Donald Trump floated chan­ging the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf ahead of a trip to the Middle East recently, a move that infuriated Iran and its people.

“I’ll have to make a decision,” Trump said in the Oval Office on May 8 before his trip. “I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I don’t know if feelings are going to be hurt.”