Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi yesterday criticised South Korea for plans to send military forces to the region, as well as for misnaming the Persian Gulf as the “Arab-Persian Gulf”.

According to Iranian news outlets, Mousavi tweeted: “Based on which knowledge and justification is South Korea seeking to dispatch military forces to the region when its Defence Ministry does not even know the historic name of the Persian Gulf?”

He added: “Mutual respect and acceptance of realities are the basis of relations between civilized nations.”

This came after a few hours after Seoul’s announcement that it would expand the operational area of its anti-piracy unit from the Gulf of Aden to the “Gulf of Oman and the Arab-Persian Gulf.”

South Korea stressed that the expansion of the mission of its forces is absolutely not part of the US coalition in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has been fighting on several fronts to maintain the historic name of this area as the Persian Gulf.

This fight followed an attempt by some Arab nations to rename it as the Arabian Gulf following Arab perceptions that Iran supported Israel during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Commentary by The Iranian Unfortunately, French President Macron also on record for recently referring to the Persian Gulf as the ‘Arabian Persian Gulf’. It was only a week ago that Macron called it "Arabian Persian Gulf", and now the South Koreans follow suit. How much Saudi/UAE money & US pressure are these nations receiving to rewrite history/facts? https://t.co/V5kJvqle51 — The Iranian (@iraniandotcom) January 23, 2020 Dans la péninsule arabique et dans le Golfe arabo-persique, nous avons déployé en un temps record la Task force Jaguar, et par les initiatives avec nos partenaires européens, nous renforçons la sécurité maritime dans cette région si stratégique pour nous. — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 16, 2020 I remind Monsieur Macron that the gulf located south of Iran has only one name and that is the #PersianGulf. Your military presence in the Persian Gulf is as wrong as your naming it. Both mistakes are huge but compensable. — S.A MOUSAVI (@SAMOUSAVI9) January 18, 2020 This guy!! Unbelievable. Per Brother Karaji’s translation, which is correct, Macron is calling the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Persian Gulf. https://t.co/u2foHIRiF0 — The Iranian (@iraniandotcom) January 18, 2020 Mood: 😠

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