Iran claims National Geographic win

Iran crowed victory after it learned that National Geographic had revised its world atlas to boost the name Persian Gulf instead of the alternative Arabian Gulf. But the United States cartographer said such revisions were common.

Iran objected to the eighth edition of the atlas printing the term Arabian Gulf in parenthesis besides the more commonly used Persian Gulf.

National Geographic initially defended the twin terms for the Gulf but on December 30 it said it was changing its map to drop the Arabian Gulf in parenthesis. The revised map, published on the website, bears a note in the middle of the Gulf saying that while most people call it the Persian Gulf, "this body of water is referred to by some as the Arabian Gulf".