Iran threatened on Thursday to sue Google for removing the name of the Persian Gulf from its online maps service, Press TV reported.
The body of water separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula is currently nameless on Google’s map service.
“Toying with modern technologies in political issues is among the new measures by the enemies against Iran, [and] in this regard, Google has been treated as a plaything,” Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as telling journalists.
Avoiding "the proper" name for the gulf may cause serious damage to the U.S.-based company, he warned.
“Omitting the name Persian Gulf is [like] playing with the feelings and realities of the Iranian nation,” he added.
While most historical and modern international treaties, documents and maps use the name "Persian Gulf” to refer to this strategic body of water, many Arab countries prefer to call it the Arabian Gulf, or simply the Gulf.
Iran has strongly criticized attempts to omit the word “Persian” in the gulf’s name as “manipulating Persian cultural and historical heritage.”
