Iranians of all stripes fume at chance Trump might rebrand Persian Gulf

The mere possibility that US President Donald Trump may rename the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf has outraged both supporters and opponents of the Islamic Republic.

Trump, speaking on Wednesday, said he had yet to decide on the matter and would announce his position during an upcoming trip to the Middle East. “I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings,” he added.

Reports—first published by the Associated Press—about potential plans to officially adopt the name "Arabian Gulf" in official US parlance have drawn sharp criticism from Iranian officials and also sparked widespread backlash across social media.

Reactions have cut across political lines, uniting unlikely voices in outrage. Iranians across the political spectrum, from Islamic Republic apparatchiks to the US-based exiled prince viewed any such move as an affront to their historical and national identity.

Common cause

Describing the Persian Gulf as “the strongest factor in uniting the Iranian people” in a post on X, reformist former vice president Mohammad-Ali Abtahi warned about a negative impact of renaming on Tehran-Washington nuclear talks.

Even those who support negotiations with the US, Abtahi said, would be forced to stand in opposition.

Veteran diaspora opposition figure Mohsen Sazegara told Iran International TV that the move could be a boon to a hard Iranian line in talks.

"Trump would provide Khamenei with a great opportunity to use Iranians’ sense of nationalism to his own benefit," he said. "(It's) the best lever Khamenei has to back out of the negotiations."

Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi also said in a statement: “The reported decision by President Trump to abrogate history, should it be true, is an affront to the people of Iran and our great civilization."

“But, once again, the true culprit of this shameful act is Ali Khamenei and his anti-Iranian regime who have so weakened our nation that foreign powers dare make such transgressions against Iran’s national identity and world history."

The exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq also issued a statement warning that any effort to change the name of the Persian Gulf would only benefit Khamenei, giving him an opportunity to deflect from domestic dissent and redirect public anger toward a foreign enemy.

Some analysts suggest the controversy may be part of a deliberate psychological tactic to destabilize Iran’s negotiating position.

Shahram Kholdi, a Canada-based Iran analyst, pointed to Trump’s close ties with Arab states and argued the maneuver could be strategic. “Trump uses every tactic to psychologically confuse the other side and gain points,” he told Iran International TV.

Pressure to exit talks

Iran’s ultra-hardliners, who had tempered their opposition to US negotiations after Khamenei’s tacit endorsement, are now urging the government to withdraw from the talks.

Naser Mesdaghi, a journalist, urged President Masoud Pezeshkian to immediately walk away from the talks if the US deviates from historical nomenclature.

“All Iranians support this decision and will endure the hardship of sanctions and war for the sake of Iran’s integrity,” he said in a post on X.

Tehran-based commentator Ali Nasri went further, framing the issue as part of a broader disinformation campaign. “This ridiculous rumor … is the next stage of psychological warfare,” he posted on X.

"Having failed to stop the negotiations, the Israel lobby and its affiliated diaspora opposition are now trying to poison and anger public opinion at every stage.”