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#REDIRECT ]{{R from alternative name}}
] word for cockroach) and it answers ''Namana?'' (], or Persian ], for ''What?'')]]
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The '''Azeri cartoon controversy in "Iran" newspaper''' arose over a cartoon, published in the ]ian state-run newspaper ''Iran'' and drawn by the cartoonist ], an ethnic ] himself <ref>{{cite news |title=Cockroach Cartoonist Jailed In Iran |url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cockroach_cartoonist_jailed_in_iran/ |work=The Comics Reporter |date=May 24, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |title=Iranian paper banned over cartoon |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5008420.stm |work=] |date=May 23, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=IFJ Criticises “Political Interference” as Cartoons Rows Put Journalists in Jail in Iran and Jordan |url=http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3956&Language=EN |work=] |date=June 3, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=IRAN: Azeris unhappy at being butt of national jokes |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53543&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN |format= |work=] |publisher=] ] (OCHA) |date=May 25, 2006}}</ref>. The cartoon, published in the children's section of the newspaper on May 12, 2006, allegedly insulted the ] by depicting a child speaking in ] to a cockroach, which was replying in the ], saying "''namana?''" ("''what?''"). However, ''namana'' is also a ] word used in Persian. In other sections of the cartoon , the cockroach also speaks in ] (the second picture).

The controversy resulted in massive riots throughout Iran in May 2006, most ostensibly in the predominantly ] city of ]. The riots were violent in some cases, with protestors damaging public buildings and throwing stones, prompting the reaction from the Iranian police.<ref></ref>

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". <ref>Daria Vaisman. "The other cartoon protests: Large demonstrations broke out across Iran in May 2006 to protest a cartoon insulting to Azeris", The Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 2007</ref>

==Possible foreign interference==
:''See also: ]''

Iran's predominantly Azeri northwestern region is an area thats acknowledged as being ripe for covert operations.<ref name="atimes"></ref> ], head of the Majlis Cultural Commission at the time, said that pan-Turks were involved in creating the tensions.<ref name="Iran-Daily"></ref> Other members of the Iranian government blamed it on the ], ], and the ] with a suspicion of ]. The United States has itself confirmed that it is conducting covert operations in Iran and its ally in the Caucasus, the ], may also have been invovled<ref name="atimes"/>.

Abbas Maleki, a senior research fellow at Harvard University, stated<ref name="atimes"/>:

<blockquote>
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 Chehregani, one of the pan-Turkist leaders , was in Washington last year by invitation of the Defense Department.
</blockquote>

Reuel Marc Gerecht has stated<ref name="atimes"/>:

<blockquote>
Accessible through Turkey and ex-Soviet Azerbaijan, eyed already by nationalists in Baku, more westward-looking than most Iran, and economically going nowhere, Iran's richest agricultural province was an ideal CIA theater.
</blockquote>

According to ], well known expert on ], there might be some truth behind Iranian government's allegations of a foreign plot, yet the responsibility for the unrest lies first and formost with the central government. <ref> </ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

]

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