Iran Protests Name of Soccer Tournament in Neighboring Iraq

What’s in a soccer tournament’s name? A lot, according to Iran. The Islamic Republic has protested to neighboring Iraq over a regional soccer competition being held in the southern Iraqi city of Basra because of its official name – the Arabian Gulf Cup. This is the first time that Iraq has hosted the biennial tournament since its inception in 1979. Iran says the tournament, as well as the body of water it is named after, should be called the Persian Gulf Cup. The tournament is frequently called simply the Gulf Cup. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told the IRNA state news agency that his ministry summoned Iraq’s ambassador in order to make its protest of the tournament’s name known.  “We reflected the sensitivity of the great nation of Iran to the use of the exact and complete term of Persian Gulf to the Iraqi side,” the foreign minister said, according to IRNA.