US Edition 
Iran threatens flight ban over 'Persian' Gulf name row
Iran is threatening to ban airlines from landing in the country unless they acknowledge the stretch of water that separates it from its neighbours is called the Persian Gulf.
This is likely to be met with fierce resistance by the other countries which surround it, all of which are Arab and for which it is the Arabian Gulf.
It may also pose problems for other countries who have no vested interest in what it is called - and as a result have given no thought to how it is described in on-board maps and diagrams.
The conventional compromise for those not involved - just calling it "The Gulf" - may no longer be enough to avoid offence.
The battle over the name has escalated since the countries of the Islamic world, often in dispute with each other as much as with non-Islamic countries, decided to hold a friendly mini-Olympics this coming April.
The "Islamic Solidarity Games" were cancelled after the Iranian hosts used the term "Persian Gulf" on the medals and, when the Arab states objected, refused to back down.
According to Iranian state media, an air steward of Greek origin was sacked recently from a local airline and deported after becoming involved in an argument over the issue with a passenger.
This led the transport minister, Hamid Behbahani, to issue a decree saying that the use of the description "Persian" would now be enforced on airlines coming into the country - mostly from nearby cities such as Dubai.
"The airlines of the southern Persian Gulf countries flying to Iran are warned to use the term Persian Gulf on their electronic display boards," he said.
"Otherwise they will be banned from Iranian airspace for a month the first time and upon repetition their aircraft will be grounded in Iran and flight permits to Iran will be revoked."
The decision reflects growing tension between Iran and the Arab Gulf States.
Saudi Arabia has long been hostile to rising Iranian power in the region, but even Dubai, Iran's closest trading partner, has been compelled to restrict banking and other trade facilities in the light of Tehran's conflict with the the United Nations over its nuclear programme.
Iran nevertheless said on Monday it was pressing ahead with its plans to expand its production of enriched uranium, saying it would commence building two new plants in the next Iranian year, starting in March.
The Gulf's proper name is an issue on which the West would, for once, agree with Tehran. At the height of the Persian empire of Darius and Xerxes the Great, Greek writers called the stretch of water the Persian Gulf - and the name has stuck ever since.
The United Nations also refers to it as the Persian Gulf.