Actually, I've met Persians, Iranians and Aryans, generally, though not always referring to the same people. I've met Pakistanis who call themselves Persian This is plausible because historically the Indus river was the border of the Persian Empire, as well as the fact that the Urdu language (curently spoken in Pakistan, and formerly spoken by the Moughal princes of India, as well as the root of modern Hindi) is directly derived from Persian and strikingly similar to Farsi.

A lot of Persians, especially Zoroastrians and Baha'i, identify themselves as Aryans, and perhaps with good cause, since the mountains of what is now North-Eastern Iran are the probable source of the Aryans who conquered...

Actually, I've met Persians, Iranians and Aryans, generally, though not always referring to the same people. I've met Pakistanis who call themselves Persian This is plausible because historically the Indus river was the border of the Persian Empire, as well as the fact that the Urdu language (curently spoken in Pakistan, and formerly spoken by the Moughal princes of India, as well as the root of modern Hindi) is directly derived from Persian and strikingly similar to Farsi.

A lot of Persians, especially Zoroastrians and Baha'i, identify themselves as Aryans, and perhaps with good cause, since the mountains of what is now North-Eastern Iran are the probable source of the Aryans who conquered India.

Actually, the modern word Iran is derived from the Middle Persian word Eran, meaning the land of the tribe Er, which is the same word from which we derive Aryan.

Thus, Iran is the land of the Aryans, while Persians are a people (probably the same people) descended from the Persian Empire (during which time the words were used interchangeably.)

Thus, Persian is often a preferable identification since it links a person with a mighty empire. What is more, Iranians who do not identify themselves as Aryans may find it easier to accept the classification of Persian, which is essentially more political than ethnic.