Iran to sue Google in Gulf naming dispute

I have met a fair number of Persians who are not too happy with the current government in power whom they claim is corrupted to the core alongside rigged elections, but very little can be done about the situation back home in order to improve. It seems that the Iranian government has decided to take Google to court for not naming the body of water which separates Iran and the other Arab Gulf states neighboring it on Google’s online map service. While Iranians (or Persians, if you will) has named the waterway the Persian Gulf, other Arab countries tend to call it the Arabian Gulf instead. According to Iran, Google will face “serious damages” should they not call it the Persian Gulf. Perhaps an international referendum needs to be taken in order to settle on the name of the hotly disputed name once and for all, but seriously, what can Iran do to Google?

Iranian Foreign Minister Ramin Mehmanparast said, “If Google does not correct its mistake as soon as possible, we will file an official complaint against Google.” Google retorted that the body of water had not been labelled from the beginning, so there is no need to make any rectifications. I suppose if you are a user of Google Maps and want to wade over to the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf (depending on which side of the fence you are on) in your boat or yacht, then it would be something that ought to resolved soon. What do you think of the situation?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Computers
Tags: Google, iran