National Geographic Society retreats

The Marze Por Gohar Party is happy to announce that with the hard work of our compatriots for defending the Persian Gulf, the National Geographic Society has been forced to retreat from their earlier stance regarding the Persian Gulf. The National Geographic Society has reportedly removed the illegitimate name from its maps, however there is an asterisk now explaining that some countries use another (unrecognized) name to refer to the Persian Gulf. Though the Islamic Republic would like to have Iranians believe that the matter regarding the National Geographic’s use of an illegitimate name for the Persian Gulf has been resolved, only one of the four points our compatriots cited have in fact been enacted by the National Geographic Society. The Islamic Republic has had its foreign minister issue a statement whereby he thanks those outside Iran for defending the Persian Gulf, however they fail to realize that if Iran was being governed by real Iranians concerned with our national interests and territorial integrity in the first place then no entity would dare attempt to infringe upon our culture, history and territorial integrity. The National Geographic Society has yet to implement the following demands of Iranians: 1) A recall process must be initiated by the National Geographic Society to collect all the flawed atlases.

2) The National Geographic Society must correct all errors pertaining to Iran on its atlases, websites and publications.

3) The president of the National Geographic Society must resign due to the fact that he is ultimately responsible for these inexcusable and error prone policies regarding Iran. The organizations responsible for pursuing the campaign for the defense of the Persian Gulf were all based outside Iran. During meetings of these organizations it was agreed that since the Islamic Republic is too incompetent and since this regime has openly refused to characterize itself as a national entity, a committee be established with the goal of defending Iranian territorial integrity. The Committee for Defense of Iranian Territorial Integrity (CDITI) is composed of the following parties, organizations and media: Marze Por Gohar Party (MPG) Kashm Organization Council of Iranian American Jewish Organizations (CIAJO) Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) National Iranian Television (NITV) Jam-e-Jam Television SOS Iran Television (X-TV) Pars Television Azadi Television Radio Sedayeh Iran (KRSI) Sobheh Iran Daily Newspaper Asreh Emrooz Daily Newspaper Iranian Information Center 08 Please find below a copy of the letter that was sent to National Geographic Society by the Committee for Defense of Iranian Territorial Integrity.

Committee for Defense of Iranian Territorial Integrity, Los Angeles (CDITI) 2331 Westwood Blvd. #222, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Mr. John M. Fahey, Jr. President and CEO National Geographic Society 1145 17th Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 CC: Mr. Gilbert M.Grosvenor, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Re: Improper Use of the Term Persian Gulf in the NGS Atlas of the World, 8th Edition, 2005

Dear Mr. Fahey As you have been informed through many fax and e-mail protest messages, the Iranian community both inside Iran and abroad are enraged that such a reputable organization as the NGS, would, by adding an illegitimate name to the Persian Gulf, take such a provocative, possibly illegal, and clearly erroneous action which could initiate a process for changing the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf, changing the names of Iranian islands and alleging that three of these Islands are currently "occupied" by Iran. The united campaign of Iranians against the National Geographic and in defense of the Iranian territorial integrity, initiated by Iranians in Los Angeles, many of whom having joined together to form the “CDITI”, has gained the support of all Iranians including over 250,000 who have voiced their concerns through e-mails, letters, group activities, canceling their subscriptions and other protests directed at the NGS. This campaign has gained the attention of all major news services, several major international broadcasters and countless media outlets and web sites across the world. Recent results from search engines, reveal the extent of Persian Gulf sensitivity and negative reactions to the illegitimate name used by the NGS. People of Iranian ancestry and Persian speaking nations, totaling one hundred million globally are also joining the protest as they receive information about transgressions against their common heritage. Even the Islamic government in Iran, which has traditionally been grossly insensitive to Iran's national interest and national identity, has been forced to react and has banned all National Geographic publications and representatives from Iran.

The Persian Gulf, with its historical name which your organization had recognized all these years, has had a recorded history of several millennia as a strategic waterway and a venue for trade, contact and collision among great civilizations.

Undeniable legal evidence and countless documents confirm the universal use of the term Persian Gulf throughout the centuries past. For example, during the controversial period of 1507 to 1560 in all the agreements that the Portuguese, the Spanish, the British, the Dutch, the French and the Germans concluded with the Iranian (Persian) governments or in other recordings of maritime events relating to the region, there were mentions only of the name Persian Gulf.

Even the Arabs themselves used the term “Al-Khalij al Farsi” which means the Persian Gulf up until the 1960s. The most famous Pan Arab anthem during the first decade of the Pan Arab movement, broadcasted daily from the “Arab Voice” radio from Cairo and memorized by millions of Arab youth in North Africa and the Middle East, clearly stated their goal of Arab unity “… from the Atlas Ocean (Atlantic) to the Persian Gulf (Al Khaleej Al Farsi)”. Later with the rise of Nasserite Arab nationalism and Arab expansionism, Nasser initiated illegitimate name changes and anti-Iranian chauvinism in the Arab world. These were preludes to clashes culminating in armed confrontations including the devastating 8 year war of Iraq and its Arab allies against Iran (1980-1988). We believe that today, the National Geographic is contributing to a new wave of anti-Iranian chauvinism among a new generation of Arab youth, endangering peace in the region, along the same lines that in the past had been the psychological and propaganda bases for acts of violence and war against Iran.

Despite all the disputes and efforts made to change the name of the Persian Gulf the United Nations with its 22 Arab member countries has on two occasions officially declared the unalterable name of the sea between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula as the Persian Gulf. The first announcement was made through the document UNAD, 311/Qen on March 5, 1971 and the second was UNLA 45.8.2 © on August 10, 1984. The UN’s Secretariat document ST/CS/SER.A/29/Add.2, dated August 18th 1994 clearly states that “…The full term ‘Persian Gulf’ should be used in every case instead of the shorter term ‘Gulf’, including in repetitions of the term …”, a statement which is also repeated in the UN Editorial Directive of May 14th 1999. Moreover, the annual U.N. conference for coordination on the geographical names has emphatically repeated the name Persian Gulf each year.

Therefore Mr. Fahey, we would like to remind you and your organization that the use of a new term, even as a secondary name for Persian Gulf, has no legitimate, legal, historical or geographically correct basis and shall not be accepted by the Iranian people nor by the well informed world communities. The Persian Gulf will FOREVER remain the Persian Gulf.

Having not received any positive reactions from the NGS, once again we demand a recall of the 2005 issue of the National Geographic Atlas, which misrepresents the name of the Persian Gulf, the exclusive use of the historical and official name of Persian Gulf in all future NGS publications, maps, and web sites, and an apology to the Iranian Nation and everyone else around the world who is interested in Geography, including your own readers who had previously expected accuracy and honesty from the NGS. We also demand your resignation within 30 days from the date of this letter; otherwise, we will take necessary legal action.

From the NGS site:

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I noticed this for the first time recently- when some report used the term "Arabian Gulf" it caught me by surprise since "Persian Gulf" has traditionally been common usage. Perhaps the NGS is trying to tweak Iran for being such an outcast among nations...

Or the Saudis insisted the change be made before they bought the lifetime subscriptions for everyone in the Royal family.

And only parenthetically, at that. Those pesky ay-rabs, heheheh.

In its latest world atlas, National Geographic added the name "Arabian Gulf" in parentheses beneath "Persian Gulf" on a map to label the body of water that cuts along the coasts of Iran and its Arab neighbors.

The use of "Arabian Gulf," and the implication that Iran may somehow be losing its historical claims to dominance of the ancient seas, pierced the cultural pride that pervades the land once known as Persia.

It gave fresh life to the long and often bloody tensions between Iranians and Arabs and added fuel to a widely held Iranian suspicion that Arabs have been quietly lobbying for years to change the name of the gulf.

It seems someone labelled it "Arabian Gulf."

At first blush, what this body of water is called seems irrelevant. However, these are the types of issues that have been used to create cohesion in the Iranian populace before. It's the Ayatollah Khomeini school of group dynamics. Creating an external enemy brings solidarity to what is otherwise a fractured group. The Great American Satan worked for years for Khomeini and I suspect that the ayatollahs and the clerics in Iran will try to use this same tactic to rally Iranians if they perceive American threats on their border.

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