High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The Gulf, although neither of the latter two terms is recognized internationally. The name Gulf of Iran is used by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Persian Gulf was a focus of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers. In 1991, the Persian Gulf again was the background for the Gulf War, when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was subsequently pushed back, though this conflict was conducted primarily on land, rather than in Persian Gulf waters.