Edited sentence: "  They regard Azerbaijani as a subset of being an Iranian." Just like being a New Yorker or Texan is a subset of being an American.In fact, the current Supreme Leader of Iran is an "Azerbaijani.It is critical to note that many of the people listed below - especially the Iranian Azeris - identify first and foremost as Iranians and only secondarily with their regional sub-cultural identity as "Azerbaijanis.Many if not all Iranians have a secondary regional sub-cultural identity, but they consider themselves Iranians first