Let’s call the whole thing off

We learn from yesterday’s New York Times column by historian Efraim Karsh that the Islamic Solidarity Games — the Olympics of the Muslim world — were to be held in Iran in April, but have been called off by the Arab states. Karsh links to this BBC story regarding the cancellation.
The reason for the cancellation is that the powers-that-be in Tehran inscribed “Persian Gulf” on the tournament’s official logo and medals. The Arab states reject the term and call it the Arabian Gulf. Karsh draws two arguable lessons from this “small but telling controversy.”

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