Iran Celebrates Cartographic Victory
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 4, 2005
Filed at 3:13 a.m. ET
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Iran claimed victory after it learned that National Geographic had revised its world atlas to highlight the name ``Persian Gulf'' over the alternative ``Arabian Gulf.'' But the U.S. cartographer said such revisions are common.
Iran had said in November that it would ban from its territory new edition of the atlas, as well as National Geographic journalists, until the map for the Gulf region was changed. It objected to the eighth edition's printing the term Arabian Gulf in parenthesis beside the more commonly used Persian Gulf.
National Geographic defended the twin terms for the body of water between Iran and the Arabian peninsula. Its Web site said that while Persian Gulf is the primary name, ``we want people searching for Arabian Gulf to be able to find what they're looking for and not to confuse it with the nearby Arabian Sea.''
However, on Dec. 30, National Geographic announced it was changing its map to drop the Arabian Gulf in parenthesis. The revised map, published on the society's Web site, bears a note in the middle of the gulf saying that while most people call it the Persian Gulf, ``this body of water is referred to by some as the Arabian Gulf.''
Iran's official news agency on Monday quoted Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi as saying National Geographic had made a ``retreat'' that was ``a victory for every Iranian.''
In the Washington headquarters of National Geographic, spokeswoman Carol Seitz said the company had made thousands of changes to the Atlas in the five years between its seventh and eighth editions.
``We review our cartographic policies on an ongoing basis,'' Seitz said in a phone call. The consultations leading up to the revision had involved Iranian government officials and others, she added.
Seitz denied that National Geographic had been influenced by Iran's imposing a ban on the atlas and the society's journalists.
Iran had also objected to the eighth edition's describing the Gulf islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs as ``occupied.'' Iran controls the islands, but the United Arab Emirates says they are its territory. The revised map deletes the term ``occupied.''
Asked if National Geographic expects protests from the United Arab Emirates over the deletion, Seitz said: ``We haven't received any yet.''
Historically the Gulf has been known as the Persian Gulf, but Arab nationalists such as the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein tried to rename it the Arabian Gulf.
National Geographic's revision exists only on the Internet so far. The eighth edition was published in October. When the revision might appear in a reprint of the atlas depends on future sales and demand.
