Iran’s airline threat ‘is politically motivated’

Arab states call this region the Arabian Gulf, but Iran insists it must be called the Persian Gulf Photo: GOOGLE

“Iran is shooting itself in the foot by doing this. They will deprive their country of transit fees and neighbouring nations will be obliged to impose reciprocal acts against Iranian flights,” 

By Duraid Al Baik, Associate Editor, and Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief

Dubai/Manama: The announcement by Iranian Transport Minster Hamid Behbahani that airlines that do not display the term “Persian Gulf” on their monitors will be impounded, is meant to incite the anger of Arab countries, Riad Kahwaji, director general of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, told Gulf News in an interview. 

It is an unwise decision for the Iranians given their current confrontation with the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme, Kahwaji said.

“Iran is shooting itself in the foot by doing this. They will deprive their country of transit fees and neighbouring nations will be obliged to impose reciprocal acts against Iranian flights,” he said. 

Behbahani said it would give foreign airlines 15 days to comply. 

The BBC News website said repeat offences would result in planes being impounded and refused permission to leave Iran. 

“In our in-flight magazine and on our website, the area in question has not been labelled as the focus is on our destination cities,” an Emirates spokesperson told Gulf News. Etihad declined to comment.

Political decision

Meanwhile, a Bahraini lawmaker said that Tehran’s threat to ban airlines that refer to the waterway between Iran and Arab states as the Arabian Gulf instead of Persian Gulf is a politically-motivated move.

“We are sorry that the Iranians think in such terms and this attitude shows some form of obstinacy,” MP Abdul Halim Murad said.

“This is a political decision that should not be made,” said the lawmaker.

No statement was issued by Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national airline that flies to Iran.

Murad’s rejection of the Iranian move came a day after Kuwaiti Salafi lawmaker Waleed Al Tabatabai criticised Kuwait’s Ambassador to Iran Majdi Al Dhufairi for saying that the name of the Gulf should not be an issue between Iran and the Arabs.

“The name should not be a cause for sensitivities between us. We do not want to approach it with an excessive sensitivity, especially since several international conferences use both the Arabian Gulf and the Persian Gulf,” he said 

However, Al Tabatabai said that the issue goes beyond simple differences over what to call the body of water.

“It might be a matter of differences in names to us, but to the Iranians it is not. In fact, to them it is a matter of a national issue and regional aspirations,” Al Tabatabai said. 

“We must be aware not to try to please the Iranians because that would be an unwise policy.”

The move has also been viewed as a way to strengthen the government by rallying national causes.

“What I am sure of at this moment, [is that] the decision of the Transport Ministry to force the airlines to name the Gulf as Persian is aimed against the opposition.

“While the opposition is not against calling it the Persian Gulf, the move is aimed at drawing the support of nationalists and enhancing the feelings of average Iranian citizens to defend his and her nation and identity,” an Iranian commentator told Gulf News.

Intolerant

He said on condition of anonymity that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government has become intolerant toward any kind of opposition and it would do anything to crush the movement.

He has been banned from commenting on internal issues to the media and reminded Gulf News that another prominent Iranian analyst, Mashallah Shams Al Waezeen, has been in prison for two months without being charged. 

Anisa Hashemi, Iranian spokeswoman for the opposition, told Gulf News that the statement of the minister was meant domestically and she did not expect the government to enforce the threat against international airlines. 

But she said this does not mean that the market of travel and tourism was not affected by the statement.

“There is a state of shock and anxiety in Iran for the time being, especially with many Iranians planning to leave the country during Now Rouz, the upcoming Persian New Year holiday that falls on the third week of March.”