Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 10
By Umid Niayesh- Trend:
An Iranian official said that no one was killed in protests of Azerbaijanis in north eastern city of Tabriz on Nov. 9.
Colonel Farhang Norouzi, Tabriz police chief rejected reports about clashes between police forces and protesters who were gathered to protest airing a program at state TV that insulted the Azerbaijani people, one of the country's largest ethnic groups.
"Police dealt with protestors very peaceful in order to preserve peace," Norouzi said, local media outlets in Tabriz reported.
The program, Fitileh, contained a satiric show that depicted an Azerbaijani child brushing his teeth with a toilet brush.
Fitileh is a popular program aired every Friday. However, it was temporarily banned following its latest broadcast on Nov. 6.
A considerable number of Iranians took to social media platforms to slam the program that insulted Azerbaijani citizens.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) organization has apologized for airing the program.
"The media [IRIB] apologizes for the slip-up, and it will redouble its efforts to strengthen national unity among Iranian ethnic groups," Fars news agency quoted the head of IRIB, Mohammad Sarafraz, as saying.
The IRIB head further pledged to investigate the incident and punish those responsible.
Governor Generals of Iran's Azerbaijani provinces have also written letters to interior minister, Abdolreza Rahmanifazli asking him to investigate the issue.
This is not the first controversy over Iranians who are ethnically Azerbaijanis. Back in 2006, Iran's government suspended a state-owned newspaper after it ran a cartoon that led to riots among the country's Azerbaijani community.
The cartoon in the "Iran" newspaper depicted a cockroach speaking the Azerbaijani language.
Iran's press supervisory board banned the newspaper, and both the cartoonist and editor were arrested.