page_title: Iranian Azerbaijanis
section_title: Ethnic status in Iran
hierarchical_section_title: Iranian Azerbaijanis / Ethnic status in Iran
caption_attribution_description: English: Sattar Khan فارسی: ستارخان
context_page_description: Iranian Azerbaijanis, also known as Iranian Azeris, Iranian Turks, Persian Turks or Persian Azerbaijanis, are Iranians of Azeri ethnicity who may speak the Azerbaijani language as their first language.
  Iranian Azerbaijanis are a Turkic-speaking people of Iranian origin. Due to their historical, genetic and cultural ties to the Iranians, Iranian Azerbaijanis are also often associated with the Iranian peoples.
  Iranian Azeris are mainly found in and are native to the Iranian Azerbaijan region including provinces of and in smaller numbers, in other provinces such as Kurdistan, Qazvin, Hamadan, Gilan, Markazi and Kermanshah. Iranian Azeris also constitute a significant minority in Tehran, Karaj and other regions.
context_section_description: Generally, Azeris in Iran were regarded as "a well integrated linguistic minority" by academics prior to Iran's Islamic Revolution. Despite friction, Azeris in Iran came to be well represented at all levels of, "political, military, and intellectual hierarchies, as well as the religious hierarchy.". In addition, the current Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, is half Azeri. In contrast to the claims of de facto discrimination of some Azeris in Iran, the government claims that its policy in the past 30 years has been one of pan-Islamism, which is based on a common Islamic religion of which diverse ethnic groups may be part, and which does not favor or repress any particular ethnicity, including the Persian majority. Persian language is thus merely used as the lingua franca of the country, which helps maintain Iran's traditional centralized model of government.  More recently, the Azerbaijani language and culture is being taught and studied at university level in Iran, and there appears to exist publications of books, newspapers and apparently, regional radio broadcasts too in the language.
  Furthermore, Article 15 of Iran's constitution reads:
  The use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian.
  According to Professor. Nikki R. Keddie of UCLA: "One can purchase newspapers, books, music tapes, and videos in Azeri and Kurdish, and there are radio and television stations in ethnic areas that broadcast news and entertainment programs in even more languages".
  Azerbaijani nationalism has oscillated since the Islamic revolution and recently escalated into riots over the publication in May 2006 of a cartoon that many Azeris found offensive. The cartoon was drawn by Mana Neyestani, an ethnic Azerbaijani, who was fired along with his editor as a result of the controversy.
  Another series of protests took place in November 2015, in the cities of Iranian Azerbaijan including Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil and Zanjan, in response to an episode of a popular children's program called Fitileh which had depicted what was seen as a racist image of Azeris. Mohammad Sarafraz director-general of the IRIB and Davud Nemati-Anarki, the head of the public relations department, officially apologised for the "unintentional offense" caused by the program. Protests were also held in July 2016 in Tehran, Tabriz, Urmia, Maragheh, Zanjan, Ahar, Khoy, and Ardabil in response to "denigration of Azeris by the state media". Plastic bullets were shot at protesters and several people were arrested.
  Despite sporadic problems, Azeris are an intrinsic community within Iran. Currently, the living conditions of Azeris in Iran closely resemble that of Persians:
  The life styles of urban Azeri do not differ from those of Persians, and there is considerable intermarriage among the upper classes in cities of mixed populations. Similarly, customs among Azeri villagers do not appear to differ markedly from those of Persian villagers.
  Azeris in Iran are in high positions of authority with the Azeris Ayatollah Ali Khamenei currently sitting as the Supreme Leader. Azeris in Iran remain quite conservative in comparison to most Azeris in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Nonetheless, since the Republic of Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, there has been renewed interest and contact between Azeris on both sides of the border.
  Andrew Burke writes:
  Azeri are famously active in commerce and in bazaars all over Iran their voluble voices can be heard. Older Azeri men where the traditional wool hat and their music and dances have become part of the mainstream culture. Azeris are well integrated and many Azeri Iranians are prominent in Persian literature, politics and clerical world.
  According to Bulent Gokay:
  The Northern part of Iran, that used to be called Azerbaijan, is inhabited by 17 million Azeris.  This population has been traditionally well integrated with the multi-ethnic Iranian state.
  Richard Thomas, Roger East, and Alan John Day state:
  The 15–20 million Azeri Turks living in no
caption: Sattar Khan, Iranian Azeri, was a key figure in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and is held in great esteem by many Iranians.
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