Iran outraged after Iraq leaders refer to football tournament in 'Arabian Gulf'

Iran officials have expressed anger over Iraqi leaders' use of the term "Arabian Gulf" when speaking about a football tournament currently taking place in southern Iraq.

The 25th Gulf Cup, known in full as the Arabian Gulf Cup, is taking place in the city of Basra from 6 to 19 January.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and powerful Shia Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr both referred to the "Arabian Gulf" when talking about the competition, news website Al-Monitor reported.

Iranian parliament board of directors member Alireza Salimi hit out at them for their remarks. In Iran, the name 'Persian Gulf' is the insisted-upon term for the body of water that borders Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

"I advise the Iraqi prime minister and Muqtada al-Sadr to apologise and stop these kinds of contentious actions that are against the interests of the two nations and create disputes between [them]," Iranian news outlets quoted Salimi as saying. Other lawmakers urged an apology too.

Sadr on Thursday tweeted welcoming "our distinguished Arab guests" from "Arabian Gulf countries", while Sudani used the competition's full name at its opening.

Naser Kanani, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, had addressed on Monday the "distortion of the name of the Persian Gulf by the Iraqi authorities", the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr said.

Kanani said Iran had "formally expressed [its] protest to the Iraqi government".

It was not clear from the report whether he was referring to any specific incidents.

Iran's football federation on Saturday said it would protest to FIFA over the naming of the Arabian Gulf Cup.