The CEO of the Intellectual Property Office of Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade has announced that the “Persian Gulf” has been registered with the prefix of “Pearl”. Mahdi Mirsalehi pointed to the registration of the “Pearl of the Persian Gulf” by The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), saying: “From now on, this gulf is officially registered as the “Pearl of the Persian Gulf” and will only be called “The Persian Gulf”. No country can refer to it by any other name.” Commenting on the prefix of “Pearl” for WIPO registration, he explained: “If we only registered it under the name “Persian Gulf” it would have turned into a political issue with political dimensions, thus impacting the registration process. Therefore, the prefix “Pearl” was added to the name to depoliticize it and facilitate its registration.”