The Iranian people are a historical ethnic-linguistic group, forming a branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly on the Iranian plateau and beyond in central, southern, and southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. As a group of people, they are predominantly defined along linguistic lines as speaking the Iranian languages,[4] a major branch of the Indo-European language family. They are spread across the Iranian plateau, stretching from the Hindu Kush to the Armenian Highlands and central Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf - a region that is sometimes termed Greater Iran.[5] Speakers of Iranian languages, however, were once found throughout Eurasia, from the Balkans to western China.[6][7] Many experts now believe that the Iranian people are one of the lost tribes. Their names culture, etc. indicate this beyong doubt. As Iranian people are not confined to the borders of the current state of Iran, the term Iranic peoples is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the citizens of Iran.

The series of ethnic groups which make up the Iranian people are traced to a branch of the ancient Indo-European Aryans known as the Iranians or Proto-Iranians. Archaeological finds in Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East have elucidated some scant information about the way of life of these early people. The Iranian people have played an important role throughout history: the Achaemenid Persians established one of the world's first multi-national states and the Scythian-Sarmatian nomads dominated the vast expanses of the Eurasian steppe for centuries with a group of Sarmatian warrior women possibly being the inspiration for the Greek legend of the Amazons.[8][9] In addition, the various religions of the Iranian people, including Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, are believed by some scholars to be important early philosophical influences on Judeo-Christianity.[10] Early Iranian tribes are the ancestors of many modern Iranian peoples.