Persian Iraq

Persian Iraq, also uncommonly spelled Persian Irak[1] (Persian: عراقِ عجم Erāq-e Ajam or عراق عجمی Erāq-e Ajami; Arabic: عراق العجم ʿIrāq al-ʿAjam or العراق العجمي al-ʿIrāq al-ʿAjamī, literally, "Iraq of the Ajam"), is a historical region of the western parts of Iran.

The name was progressively abandoned during the Seljuk era in the 11th and 12th centuries, and was called ʿIrāq-i ʿAjam(ī) ("Persian Iraq") to distinguish it from ʿIrāq-i ʿArab(ī) ("Arab Iraq") in Mesopotamia.

However, the city of Hamadan in Jibal eventually became their capital, thus resulting in the region becoming known as Iraq, with the word Ajami ("Persian") being added.

In the following century, the geographer Hamdallah Mustawfi was unaware of the name Jibal, and only knew it as 'Iraq-i Ajami'.

[3] Later, until the beginning of the 20th century, the term Iraq in Iran was used to refer to a much smaller region south of Saveh and west of Qom.