NP, please keep me straight on this.
It's been awhile since I've read about the Persian history, but as I remember the Iranian speaking peoples, that is, the languages of Persian, Kurdish and Pashto, have inhabited the region of present day Iran since early in the 8th Century BC.
They are a very ancient people and among the Paleo-Indo-Europeans.
They were in this area centuries before the Arabs, according to Assyrian records.
I would like to see the Persians win their idependence from Arab domination and reassume their original name.
Your memory is excellent and you have your facts correct.
And yes, PERSIAN for the PERSIANS!
Though they speak Farsi now. :-)