Islam was forced on everyone in the ME. Iraq and Iran (Persians) were Zoroastrians, with large Jewish communities, and early Christians as well. Their culture has been slowly stripped away over the centuries, and they have become Arabianized, although they aren't Arabs.
All this happened within the last 1400 years I might add. beginning with the Muhammadan crusades.
prior to that, the whole region was considered part of the holy lands. The Crusades were attempts to retake the holylands back from the Muhammadans.
Revisionist historians like to ommit the Muhammadan (Islamic) crusades and paint the Christian crusades as a brutal offensive, rahter than defensive ones aimed at retaking the region from Muhammad's murdering caliphs.