True, Persians are originally quite distinct from Arabs, but there has been a lot of Arab influence since the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. The dynasty which Shah Abbas belonged to came to power at the beginning of the 1500s under his great-grandfather Ismail, who was of mixed ancestry (part Turkoman, one-quarter Greek, and probably some other things)...Ismail was from a family which claimed descent from Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, so he had a least a bit of Arab ancestry.
"Ismail was from a family which claimed descent from Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, so he had a least a bit of Arab ancestry."
Fair enough. Good follow up.