IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday honored National Day of the Persian Gulf, saying that the Persian Gulf is the lifeline of Iran.

Zarif made the remarks in a video released in his Instagram account.

He said: 'The Persian Gulf is our lifeline and it is the Persian Gulf and we repeat the word Persian, because it is not the Gulf of Mexico.'

He added: 'The people who say the Gulf instead of the Persian Gulf because they think it is easier, but, the audience may be mixed up with the Gulf of Mexico and that where we are talking about.'

Iranian foreign minister blamed certain people deliberately trying to name it the Gulf.
'They want to revise history, names in geography.'

'These are historical names why are we so childish calling some places I mean as if I say Gulf of Oman on which we have more coastlines that Oman is called Gulf of Iran,' Zarif said referring to a notepad he has by the King of Saudi Arabia in which he said Riyadh-Persian Gulf and another one which said Kuwait-Persian Gulf.

'These are historical names and it doesn’t have any other connotation,' he said.

On the Persian Gulf Day, April 30, the then Iranian military leader Imam-Quli Khan put an end to 117 years domination of Portugal on southern coasts.

The day was named as Persian Gulf National Day in the Iranian year of 1384 (2005-2006).