An Iranian professor has been commended for calling out the use of a fake name to refer to the Persian Gulf at an international conference.
Maryam Razzaqi, an endocrinologist and an instructor at Iran University of Medical Sciences, recently ran into trouble with UAE authorities after she voiced disapproval of the use of the fake term "Arabian Gulf" by a fellow lecturer at a scientific seminar in Dubai.
"Persian Gulf has been Persian Gulf since time immemorial, and it will be Persian Gulf forever", ISNA quoted her as telling the audience in defense of the historical identity of the waterway separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
The naming of the strategic oil export artery is a perennial bone of contention between Iran and its Arab neighbors, as Arab states love to call it by the artificial name.
Historical Facts
In a letter released on Friday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif thanked the specialist, saying that historical facts can never be distorted.
"I saw the report of your active and effective participation at a scientific seminar in Dubai and was delighted by your logic and reasoning," he wrote, adding that her move provided a lesson to those who have turned a blind eye to the truth.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always sought brotherhood, unity and Islamic solidarity with all its neighbors… But at the same time strongly defends its national unity and territorial integrity," the minister said, reiterating that Iran fully respects people of all nationalities and ethnicities.
