(Christian Science Monitor) Abbas William Samii - During the last week of May, thousands of Iranians demonstrated in the northwestern city of Tabriz, and the previous week there were protests at universities in five cities. The protests were triggered by the official government newspaper - the Islamic Republic News Agency's Iran - publishing a cartoon which depicts a boy repeating "cockroach" in Persian before a giant bug in front of him that asks "What?" in Azeri. Azeri-Iranians - who make up approximately one-quarter of the country's population - were particularly offended by the cartoon. Ethnic Persians make up a little more than half the total population of 69 million, but there are sizable minorities including Azeris, ethnic Arabs, Baluchis, and Kurds.
2006-05-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive