If you go to Google Maps and type in “Persian Gulf,” you will be taken to the waterway between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It will put a marker in the middle of the waterway. But it will not inform you the name of said waterway.
If you go to Google Maps and type in “Arabian Gulf,” you will be taken to the same place, but there will be no marker in the waterway. Rather, it will cue up several markers surrounding the water. And more importantly, in the left panel of the screen, it will give you a small excerpt of a Wikipedia entry informing you that “Arabian Gulf may refer to: Persian Gulf.” (Emphasis theirs.)
So why is Iran so mad?
In 2010, Iran sought to ban all airlines using the name Arabian Gulf during their flights from landing in Iran. The country’s transport minister at the time, Hamid Behbahani, stated that “the airlines of the southern Persian Gulf countries flying to Iran are warned to use the term Persian Gulf on their electronic display boards.” Those that did not were to be banned from Iranian air space.
Iran clearly takes the name of the waterway very seriously. So much so that it is now threatening Google with “official complaints,” “serious damages” and even a lawsuit. Bear in mind, Google has not even taken to calling the waterway the Arabian Gulf. It is simply leaving it pseudo-blank.
Perhaps Iran, currently facing painful sanctions and international isolation due to their nuclear program, thinks that it found a fight that it can win. But if one were to compare Google by assets (2011: a little over $72 billion) to the GDP of Middle Eastern countries, it would fall about halfway down the list, with greater assets than several Gulf countries. Maybe Iran should rethink this strategy.
In other weird news regarding Iran and internet giants, it has been noted that Iran justified the hanging of an “Israeli spy” this week using evidence that was fabricated… through Wikipedia. People have been pointing out that the Israeli passport Iran used as evidence against suspected bomber Majid Jamali Fashi was a crudely photoshopped version of the Israeli passport shown on Wikipedia as an example of an Israeli passport. A crude picture was added but it is quite clear that the few available identifying characteristics, such as city of birth and date of issue, are identical.
Hopefully Iran did not invest in Facebook’s IPO or this will have been a really bad week for Iran regarding the internet.
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