Tehran, May 18 (ANI): Iran has threatened to sue Google over dropping the name of the Persian Gulf on Google Maps.
The threat comes after the search engine left the body of water between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula nameless on its online map service.
Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that if Google does not restore the name of the Persian Gulf, it will face "serious damages".
According to Stuff.co.nz, Iran has insisted on calling the waterway the 'Persian Gulf,' while the Arab countries of the oil-rich region insist on the term 'Arabian Gulf' or simply 'the Gulf.'
Iranians also claimed that historical evidence shows the water has always been "Persian," and that the Gulf's identity is part of Iran's territorial integrity.
Iranians are highly sensitive about the name of the body of water, which has historically and internationally been known as the Persian Gulf and has constantly criticised countries and institutions, which do not call it so.
Some Arab states insist on calling it the 'Arabian Gulf', which has strained relations between Iranians and Arabs.
In 2010, Iran warned that airliners using the term "Arabian Gulf" on in-flight monitors would be barred from Iranian airspace. (ANI)
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