Reply #25: Right [View All]

Iraq was under Persian domination for centuries before and after Alexander, but the Arabs invaded in the 7th Century AD, and clearly they have come to doimate the country ethnically. Besides, Saddam was the one who wanted to establish a Pan-Arab super state, much like past historical figures of the region, so the people of Iraq clearly identify themselves as Arab.

Afghanistan was also probably under Persian control too, but that of course does not make the people there necessarily Persian, although like Iraq, that strain is likely present there as well.

It's fascinating to me that "Assyrian" is still an identifiable ethnicity there, since that dates back to the known beginnings of human civilization. The first civilizations, Babylon, Sumer and Assyria, began in what is now Iraq.