Iran Criticizes South Korea for Using Fake Name for Persian Gulf
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi slammed the South Korean Defense Ministry for using a fake name for the Persian Gulf and sending a military mission to the waters under the pressure of the US.
“Based on what knowledge and justification is South Korea seeking to dispatch military forces to the region while its defense ministry does not even know the historical name of the Persian Gulf?” Mousavi wrote on his Twitter account in Korean on Wednesday.
“Mutual respect and the acceptance of realities are the basis of relations between civilized nations,” he added.
Earlier, Seoul announced a decision to expand the operational area of its anti-piracy unit from the Gulf of Aden to the Gulf of Oman and “the Arab-Persian Gulf.”
The South Korean Defense Ministry said it had decided to “temporarily expand” the sphere of activity of its 302-strong Cheonghae unit given the current situation in the Middle East, adding that Tehran had been briefed on the deployment.
The Persian Gulf is an international trade route connecting the Middle East to Africa, India, and China. It has been referred to by historians and ancient texts as “Persian” since the Achaemenid Empire was established in what is now modern-day Iran.
