Iran celebrates Persian Gulf Day, hopes for peaceful co-existence with neighbors

Iran is once again celebrating the National Persian Gulf Day, a symbol of the anti-hegemonic stance of the country and also a dismissal of futile attempts by certain regional countries to rename the strategic body of water.

Marking the occasion, the Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed hopes that the Persian Gulf will be a symbol of peace, friendship, and co-existence among regional nations.

Describing the Persian Gulf as a “civilization-making span of water,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday that the strategic gulf has always been called the Persian Gulf or its equivalents in all foreign languages throughout the history of the region.

“From millennia B.C. up until now, the Persian Gulf has always been referred to with the same ancient name or the ‘Persian Sea’ in a variety of books, travelogues, documents, maps, historical researches, and numerous international documents written in different languages,” the ministry emphasized.

“While laying emphasis on the policy of neighborliness, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran hopes that this body of water will be a sanctuary of regional security and stability as well as a symbol of peace, friendship, and co-existence among regional nations, and that others will respect the establishment of peace and security in the Persian Gulf by the littoral states,” it added.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also offered congratulations to “all Iranians and those who have done their utmost to safeguard this soil and its waters on this great occasion, which is reminiscent of the expulsion of colonialists from the region, and pay tribute to the honorable martyrs of the Persian Gulf.”

The Persian Gulf — which spans some 251,000 square kilometers — is bounded by the Arvand River in the north, which forms the frontier between Iran and Iraq, and the Strait of Hormuz in the south, which links the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

The inland sea 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.

Every year, Iranians observe the Persian Gulf Day on the 10th of Ordibehesht, the second month on the Persian calendar, which usually falls on April 30.

Iranian defense chief urges regional cooperation to ensure security in Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian defense minister slams the illegitimate presence of foreign forces in the strategic Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz regions.

The date coincides with the anniversary of a successful military campaign by Shah Abbas I of Persia in 1622, which drove the Portuguese navy out of the Strait of Hormuz.

While historical documents show that the waterway has always been referred to as the “Persian Gulf,” certain Arab states and their allies have frequently used the fictitious name “the Arabian Gulf” to point to the body of water.

Fighting hegemony in Iranians’ DNA: official

The director general of Islamic Culture and Guidance of Hormozgan Province said on Saturday that the honorable people of the country’s Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Khuzestan provinces proved their anti-hegemonic nature in the 17th century, when they drove out the Portuguese.

Esmail Jahangiri elaborated that fighting hegemony and protecting the Persian Gulf is in the Iranian people’s DNA.

“The expulsion of the Portuguese was the demand of every single individual in Hormoz, Qeshm, Lark, Hormozgan, and Bandar Abbas,” Jahangiri said. “They demanded it from the government and the rulers and they were [fighting] alongside the military forces and the rulers to expel the Portuguese in total disgrace.”

He said the same kind of disgrace has been witnessed in recent years with the kneeling of American forces before their Iranian counterparts when their ship was captured by them as well as the seizing of a British tanker in the Persian Gulf.

“Inshallah (God willing), our enemies will learn a lesson from all this humiliation and disgrace in the Persian Gulf,” he added.

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