Buddhism as Iranian heresy?

[dean_anderson at SACARI.ORG]

Mallory and Mair say in page 171 of _The Tarim Mummies_ that:

"It might be recalled that the Buddha was Zakyamuni ('Sage of the Zakyas',
i.e. the Sakas) and, within an Indic context, Buddhism was a kind of
'Iranian heresy'."

I have never heard of Buddha's teaching linked with Iranians -- at least
during his lifetime. Is this true?

Dean Anderson, PhD