MUSCAT: Oman Air has switched off an in-flight map system that labelled the waterway between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, the subject of a bitter naming dispute, as the “Persian Gulf”. The decision followed a storm of criticism on social media after a passenger posted a video showing the map in Arabic referring to the Persian, rather than Arabian Gulf.

“Our crew have been notified to disable the disturbing maps,” the sultanate’s national carrier said in a statement on Twitter. Two Boeing Dreamliners hired from Kenya Airways used a different map system to its own, it said, adding that it had asked Panasonic, which runs the system, to change the maps “without delay”.

One Twitter user called the map “a resounding scandal”, while another said Oman had “said goodbye to Arabism”.

The United Nations and international maps generally refer to the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran as the “Persian Gulf”, the term used by ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy. Arab states, particularly the Gulf monarchies that are arch rivals of Iran, call it the “Arabian Gulf”.

In 2010, Tehran said it would not grant air access to planes using the term “Arabian Gulf” on their in-flight maps.

Oman is the only state in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to have friendly relations with Shia Iran. Other Sunni monarchies in the bloc, particularly Saudi Arabia, accuse Iran of meddling in Arab affairs, especially in Syria and Yemen.

Published in Dawn September 26th, 2016