“The refused to call themselves “Arabs.” They INSISTED on being called “Persians.” —
Maybe because they ARE Persians.
.
Lol.
I wonder what they called themselves during the wars between Greece and Xerxes, the king of Persia.
Google:
A Greek folk etymology connected the name to Perseus, a legendary character in Greek mythology. Herodotus recounts this story, devising a foreign son, Perses, from whom the Persians took the name. Apparently, the Persians themselves knew the story, as Xerxes I tried to use it to suborn the Argives during his invasion of Greece, but ultimately failed to do so.
So, they are all Greeks? Maybe so. Doesn't matter now.
There are 80.28 million (2016) Persians now. The Arab countries don't come CLOSE to that huge number of citizens.
I hadn't realized how huge their population is.