The question has been on my mind for quite some time, what is the etymological root or plainly the reason for having almost the same name? What do these names mean? I always believed Iraq came from Uruk but googling it just tells me Uruk was in modern day Iraq
They sound and look less similar in their respective languages: Iraq - عراق , Iran - ایران . You can hear the audio difference here and here
They're also etymologically distinct. Iraq is either from Uruk (i.e. in which case it would be Sumerian, a language isolate) or an Arabic (i.e. Semitic language) root referring to the fertility and waters of Mespotamia. The word "Iran" is Persian (i.e. an Indo-European language) meaning land of the Iranians which is itself etymologically related to the word "Aryan."