Rouhani to US: This waterway is called Persian Gulf, not ‘New York’ Gulf

TEHRAN (Agencies): In light of Washington’s incessant acts of military adventurism in the Persian Gulf region, President Hassan Rouhani has once again reminded the United States to whom the waterway truly belongs.

“The Americans should know that this waterway is called ‘the Persian Gulf.’ It is not called ‘the New York Gulf’ or ‘the Washington Gulf,’” President Rouhani told a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday, in remarks on the occasion of the National Persian Gulf Day.

“They should understand the circumstances [surrounding the body of water] by taking into consideration both its name and the nation that has preserved it for thousands of years, and, therefore, stop hatching plots against the Iranian nation every day,” the president stated.

The Americans, he added, can clearly witness how the Iranian nation has been and continues to be successful in all areas, including providing security for the maritime area.

The Iranian Armed Forces, including the naval forces serving either the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) or the Army, as well as the forces enlisted with Iran’s Law Enforcement Force and volunteer Basij force have invariably guaranteed the security of the waterways and its coastline, Rouhani added.

The chief executive congratulated Iranians on the national occasion, laying emphasis on the nation’s entitlement to the waterway that bears special significance to the Islamic Republic given its contiguity with international waters and its being host to numerous fuel shipments.

US President Donald Trump alleged in a recent tweet that he had ordered the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy” Iranian gunboats that “harass” American ships, following a recent confrontation between US warships and Iranian military boats in the waters.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)  denounced the American vessels for their “unprofessional and perilous” behavior in the waterway, and said they had “caused trouble” for one of the elite force’s logistics ships that was on a routine patrol.

A US Navy statement claimed that about a dozen IRGC boats had approached several US naval vessels in the Persian Gulf “in dangerous and harassing” ways.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has strongly dismissed the statement, calling the account a “Hollywood tale,” and has reciprocally cautioned the terrorist US forces against taking any reckless move in the waterway.