Two US officials said that President Donald Trump will call the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia when he goes to Saudi Arabia next week.

Arab countries want to change the name of the sea near Iran. But Iran wants to keep the old name because it is important for their history.

Two officials from the U.S. talked to The Associated Press on Tuesday. They did not want their names used because they were talking about this topic. The White House and National Security Council did not answer questions about it right away.

People have called the Persian Gulf by that name for a long time, since the 1500s. But in many countries in the Middle East, people usually call it the "Gulf of Arabia" or "Arabian Gulf." In 2012, the government of Iran, which was called Persia before, was very unhappy. This was because Google Maps did not show any name for this sea. Iran said they might go to court against Google.

On Google Maps in the U.S., the water is called the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf). Apple Maps only calls it the Persian Gulf.

For many years, the U.S. military has only used the name "Arabian Gulf" instead of "Persian Gulf" in their official messages and pictures.

The name of the sea is very important to people in Iran because they are proud of their country's long history as the Persian Empire. In 2017, there was a problem when President Trump called the sea the Arabian Gulf. The president of Iran at that time, Hassan Rouhani, said that Trump needed to learn about geography.

Iran's foreign minister wrote online that people knew Trump would be friends with whoever paid him the most money, and now we know he will also sell his country.

On Wednesday, Iran's foreign minister talked about the names of seas in the Middle East. He said the names do not mean one country owns them. He said the names show that everyone respects the history that belongs to all people.

Abbas Araghchi wrote online that changing the old name of the Persian Gulf for political reasons shows they are not friendly to Iran and its people, and he strongly disagrees.

Any quick decision about this will not be accepted and will not have any real effect. It will only make Iranians everywhere very angry.

Trump can change the name for the U.S., but he cannot tell other countries what name to use.

An international group helps map the world's seas and oceans so everyone uses the same information. Sometimes, countries use different names for the same place in their maps.

Trump will also visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which are near the same sea. This trip is important because Trump wants to have a good relationship with these countries. He hopes they will invest money in the U.S. and help with problems in the area, like the war in Gaza and stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The U.S. president's businesses still make money from these countries.

This happened a few months after Trump said the U.S. would call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

The Associated Press sued the Trump government this year. This was because the White House stopped their reporters from going to most events. This happened after the news group decided not to follow the president's order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Gulf of America' in the United States.

A judge chosen by President Trump said last month that the First Amendment protects the Associated Press (AP). This means the government cannot punish the AP for the words they use. The judge also said the AP should be allowed to have access again.