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Iran suspends TV program for insulting Azerbaijanis

Politics Materials 8 November 2015 17:44 (UTC +04:00)
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) suspended a television show for children after the program broadcast insults to the country’s Azerbaijani citizens.
Iran suspends TV program for insulting Azerbaijanis

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 8

By Umid Niayesh- Trend:

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) suspended a television show for children after the program broadcast insults to the country's Azerbaijani citizens.

The "Fitileh" TV show-which is a popular children's program- airs every Friday, but was temporarily banned following its latest program, broadcast on Nov. 6, according to a statement released by the IRIB public relations office Nov. 8.

During the disputed show, some mockery of dialogues in the Azerbaijani language lead to annoyance and complaints by Azerbaijanis, according to the statement.

The IRIB further said that the insulting dialogue was aired due to "mistakes, carelessness and lack of proper supervision."

The IRIB also apologized to Iranian Azerbaijanis, emphasizing that the incident occurred unintentionally.

The statement also noted that an official in the IRIB, who was responsible for monitoring programs, has been removed from his post, while two other officials will receive written reprimands due to their negligence.

Back in 2006, Iran's government suspended a state-owned newspaper after it ran a cartoon that caused rioting among the country's Azerbaijani community.

The cartoon in the "Iran" newspaper depicted a cockroach speaking the Azerbaijani language, which is widely spoken in Iran, particularly in the northwestern provinces.

Iran's press supervisory board banned the newspaper, and both the cartoonist and editor were arrested.

Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh

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