2000 Mustang GT - 45k Miles - Repeated Stalling Problem

I have a 2000 Mustang GT with just under 45k miles which has recently been having problems staying running at Idle. When I first turn the key, the car turns over as usual and cranks strong; however, after just a few seconds, the tach drops down to 0 and the car stalls out.

The only way I have been able to get the car running when this occurs is to keep my foot firmly on the throttle (keeping the tach around 900 RPM), then after a few minutes, revving the motor up beyond 6000 and letting it fall back to around 900 before kicking it back up. After doing this 3 or 4 times, the car seems to re-learn its idle point and will drive as normal...

I have not noticed any performance issues when accelerating after this happens; and as such, need help trying to diagnose what may be happening here. My father thinks it may be related to the fuel filter being clogged; which may well be at 45k miles; but it seems too inconsistent to be a fuel issue as the car behaves normally once you rev the motor up a few times; and if you start the car within an hour of stalling, it turns over no problem.

Any thoughts? I will be changing the fuel filter regardless as it probably could stand to be done at 45k miles; but I am at a loss as to what else may be going wrong.

Thanks

Thanks for the advice; I will look into the IAC replacement... I may do the Fuel Filter anyways just because I have one sitting around and it probably couldn't hurt to change it

It was the IAC, but the Fuel Filter is changed also... should be good for a while now I hope...

Thanks for the help...