According to two US officials, President Donald Trump plans to say next week in Saudi Arabia that the United States will start calling the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia.

Countries in the Arab world want to change the name of the sea off Iran's southern coast, but Iran wants to keep the old name because of its history with the gulf.

Two US officials spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday, but they wanted to stay anonymous because they were talking about a private matter. The White House and National Security Council did not quickly answer when asked for comments.

The Persian Gulf has been known by that name since the 1500s. However, many countries in the Middle East mainly call it the "Gulf of Arabia" or "Arabian Gulf." In 2012, the government of Iran, which used to be called Persia, even said they would sue Google because the company did not put the name of the sea on its maps.

In the U.S., Google Maps shows the sea as 'Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf)', but Apple Maps only calls it the 'Persian Gulf'.

For many years, the U.S. military has called the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf in their official statements and pictures.

For Iranians who feel strongly about their country's history as the Persian Empire, the name of the body of water is a sensitive topic. When the US President used the name Arabian Gulf in 2017, it caused a disagreement. Iran's president at the time even said he needed to learn more about geography.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote online that people already knew Trump would be friends with whoever paid him the most, and now they also know he doesn't know much about geography.

On Wednesday, Iran’s foreign minister also gave his opinion, saying that the names of Middle East waterways do not mean one country owns them. He said they show that everyone shares and respects these places as part of our common history.

Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that trying to change the historical name of the Persian Gulf for political reasons shows unfriendliness towards Iran and its people, and this is strongly criticized.

Any quick decision on this will not be valid legally or geographically. It will only make Iranians everywhere, no matter their political views, very angry.

Trump can officially change the name used by the U.S., but he cannot tell other countries what to call it.

The International Hydrographic Organization helps make sure all the world’s seas and oceans are mapped in the same way, and also gives names to some of them. Sometimes, countries use different names for the same sea or place in their documents.

Besides Saudi Arabia, Trump will also visit Doha in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the main city of the United Arab Emirates, which are also in the same sea area. This trip was planned as Trump’s first time going abroad since he became president on January 20th. It happens as Trump has been trying to improve relationships with the Gulf countries. He wants them to invest money in the U.S. and help with problems in the region, like finding a solution to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The US president also has strong financial connections to these countries because of his personal companies, which he still owns while president.

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 administration 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.

Last month, a judge appointed by President Trump said that the First Amendment protects the AP from the government punishing it for the words it uses. He also ordered that the news organization should be allowed access again.