Azeris protest cockroach cartoon

TEHRAN, May 28 (UPI) -- Thousands of Azerbaijanis in northwest Iran are protesting a newspaper cartoon that compared the ethnic group to cockroaches.

Five people were killed when Iranian security forces fired on demonstrators in Ardebil, Naqadeh and Meshkin Shahr. Dozens of others were injured and hundreds were arrested, the BBC reported.

The cartoon, published in a state-owned newspaper, showed a succession of people attempting to talk to a cockroach in Persian. Each time, the insect responded by saying, in Azeri: "What do you mean?"

Azerbaijanis -- often called Azeris -- are the largest ethnic minority in Iran.