Another Muslim cartoon problem

Cockroach cartoon lands Iranian paper in hot water

A cartoonist and editor at a newspaper in Iran were arrested Tuesday after a cartoon compared the country's minority Azeris to cockroaches, sparking violent protests.

An Iranian government board suspended publication of the country's official state newspaper, called Iran, over the matter.

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, "the board, by a majority vote of its members, ordered the paper to close down on charges of publishing provocative materials and fomenting discord."

Violence broke out after the cartoon was published Friday on the newspaper's children's page.

A group of Azeris set fire to one of the newspaper's bureaus in the city of Orumiyeh on Sunday, and demonstrators in the city of Tabriz stoned government buildings Monday night.

They accused the state publication of deliberately provoking Azeris, who form 25 per cent of Iran's population but are often the butt of jokes by the country's Persian majority.

The graphic showed a Persian boy using the word for cockroach in different ways. The cockroach in front doesn't understand, and says in Azeri, "What?"

The cartoonist and editor were being held in Iran's Evin prison on unspecified charges, justice officials said. The newspaper's publishing manager has also been summoned to appear in court.

They accused the state publication of deliberately provoking Azeris, who form 25 per cent of Iran's population but are often the butt of jokes by the country's Persian majority.