The Persian Gulf has been called by this name long since the biblical times.

 

February 22, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Iranian authorities have told airline companies south of the Persian Gulf waters to stop renaming the ancient body of water into any other names from now on or they could face severe penalties.

 

‘The airlines of the southern Persian Gulf countries flying to Iran are warned to use the term Persian Gulf on their electronic display boards,’ Iran’s transportation minister Hamid Behbahani told local newspapers. The minister said those airlines that fail to observe the rule will be banned from Iranian airspace for 30 days at first and if they continue to disregard the rules then they will be grounded in Iran and have their flight permits revoked.

 

Already a Greek employee of an Iranian airliner was fired from his job because he was maliciously using other names than Persian Gulf during his work hours. In recent years, some of the oil rich sheikhdoms in the area have tried to invent new names for this ancient body of water.

 

The Persian Gulf, which is the world’s main supplier of energy, has been called by this name since the biblical times.