Iran newspaper cockroach cartoon controversy

File:Iran Azeri Cartoon.jpg

Cartoon that started the controversy. The boy tries to address the cockroach using different forms of Soosk (Persian word for cockroach) and it answers Namana? (Azeri language, or Persian slang, for What?)

The cockroach also spoke in Persian.

The Iran newspaper cockroach cartoon controversy arose over a cartoon, published in the Iranian state-run newspaper Iran and drawn by the cartoonist Mana Neyestani, an ethnic Iranian Azeri. The cartoon, published in the children's section of the newspaper on May 12 2006, allegedly insulted the Azerbaijani people by depicting a child speaking in Persian to a cockroach, which was replying in the Azerbaijani language, saying "namana?" ("what?"). However, namana is also a slang word used in Persian. In other sections of the cartoon, the cockroach also speaks in Persian (the second picture).

The controversy resulted in massive riots throughout Iran in May 2006, most notably in the predominantly Azerbaijani-populated city of Tabriz. The riots were violent in some cases, with protestors damaging public buildings and throwing stones, prompting the reaction of the Iranian police. Amnesty International claims that "hundreds, if not thousands, were arrested and scores reportedly killed by the security forces," while the Iranian authorities say 330 people were arrested during the protests, and four demonstrators were killed.

The Iranian government promptly responded to the events by temporarily shutting down the Iran newspaper, arresting the cartoonist and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Mehrdad Ghasemfar. It further accused "outside forces in playing nationalistic card".

Possible foreign interference

See also: Iran's ethnic minorities and foreign interference

Iran's predominantly Azeri northwestern region is an area that is acknowledged as being ripe for covert operations. Emad Afrough, head of the Majlis Cultural Commission at the time, said that pan-Turkists were involved in creating the tensions. Other members of the Iranian government blamed it on the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom, suspecting the incitement of ethnic strife in Iran. The United States has itself confirmed that it is conducting covert operations in Iran and its ally in the Caucasus, the Republic of Azerbaijan, which may have been involved.

Abbas Maleki, a senior research fellow at Harvard University, stated:

I think that when President Bush says all options are on the table, the destabilization of Iran's ethnic provinces is one of them. Don't forget, Mr [Mahmudali] Chehregani, one of the pan-Turkist leaders [agitating for a separatist Azeri agenda], was in Washington last year by invitation of the Defense Department.

Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA operative, has stated:

Accessible through Turkey and ex-Soviet Azerbaijan, eyed already by nationalists in Baku, more westward-looking than most [of] Iran, and economically going nowhere, Iran's richest agricultural province was an ideal CIA [covert action] theater.

Evan Ziegel, a historian of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, opined that there was great interest in America, Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan in pushing an agenda of ethnic warfare in Iran, but it should be also recognized that this was amply assisted by Persian nationalists who were willing to play into their hands.

According to Touraj Atabaki, well-known expert on Iran's Azerbaijani minority, there might be some truth behind the Iranian government's allegations of a foreign plot, yet the responsibility for the unrest lies first and formost with the central government.