Persian Gulf is certainly the much older name , The reaction of experts to Trump’s speech

William Orman Beeman is an actor and Middle East expert and professor of anthropology at The University of Minnesota, where he is Chair of the Department of Anthropology. He has some works on Persian Gulf . His famous work on this issue is "An Anthropological View of the Khalijis-Their Evolution and Way of Life".

Mr Beeman answered our question about history of Persian Gulf. We asked him : As you {Mr Beeman} know some days ago D.Trump (President of the US) had an speech on his policy about Iran and nuclear agreement. He , in his speech , called 'persian Gulf" as "Arabian Gulf" . What do you think about this claim? Is it historically true or is just a political deception?

He insisted that Persian Gulf is the real name of the gulf and Arabian Gulf is a fake name. He asserted : "The correct name for the Gulf is the Persian Gulf dating back to ancient Greek geographers. In the mid-20th Century certain Arab nations began calling it the Arabian Gulf, which is historically incorrect. Nevertheless, it has become a political issue. Children on the Arabian peninsula have been instructed to call it the Arabian Gulf, so this is neither historically nor geographically correct. Unfortunately, when things like this become politicized, people are not concerned with accuracy. They simply express their political views. It is unfortunate. As I am sure you know, the Iranian government and many Iranian citizens have complained every time this mistake has been promulgated by government officials or organizations like the National Geographic Society, but to little avail.

President Trump and his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, have longstanding personal and economic ties to the Arab states on the Arabian Peninsula, and their use of The Arabian Gulf is undoubtedly calculated to please their Arab friends. They have no good reason to try to please Iranians, as you can easily see by their hostile actions toward Iran. The use of Arabian Gulf is just another politically motivated slap in the face for Iran. Sad but understandable in today's political climate.

We asked this question from another expert. Daniel Potts is investigating archaeological, epigraphic, and literary evidence of nomadism in the ancient Near East. Mr Potts , also , has some works on Iran and Persian Gulf. His famous work on this issue is "The Archaeology and Early History of the Persian Gulf". He answered to our question about Persian Gulf and said:

Persian Gulf is certainly the much older name, going back to the ancient Greek (Persikos Kolpos). There was no indigenous (Elamite, Iranian) name in early written sources. In Mesopotamia the much older cuneiform sources beginning in the 3rd millennium BC called it the Lower Sea (in contrast to the Upper Sea, i.e. the Mediterranean). Arabian Gulf seems to begin around the time of Arab nationalism (Nasser in Egypt) and is used in the Arabian peninsula (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar). There has of course been a great deal written about the name but I have no idea why Trump used one term rather than the other. I doubt that he took any advice from the State Department.