Iraq’s ‘Gulf 25’ Win Intensifies Need for Deeper Ties with Arab Neighbors

Iraqi player Ali Fayez during celebrations on the Shatt al-Arab Corniche in Basra, Iraq (Reuters)

Iraqi leaders and officials are avoiding to use the term “Arab Gulf” when congratulating their country’s football team for winning the “25th Arabian Gulf Cup,” but Muqtada al-Sadr has decided to continue challenging Tehran by calling the waterway dividing Iran from its Arab neighbors the “Arab Gulf.”

In a tweet, al-Sadr congratulated the Iraqi squad and used the term “Arabian Gulf.”