Why is Tehran poking the Azeris in the eye? Are they Sunnis?
WJC provided a comprehensive answer to your queston "why?" [albeit in the context of his peccadilloes]: "because I could". Ditto here.
"Why is Tehran poking the Azeris in the eye?"
lol. You assume that the regime cares about such silly things as maybe offending someone.
The Azeri Question in Iran:
A Crucial Issue for Iran’s Future
by Nasib Nasibzade
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/HOMEPAGES/USAZERB/334.htm
Nasib Nasibzade is the President of the Foundation for Azerbaijan Studies in Baku, Azerbaijan. He was Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Iran from 1992-94.
Iran is a multinational country, composed of Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Turkmens, Arabs, Baluchies and others. The Turkic speaking Azeris in Iran are being discriminated against by the Iranian regime. This problem is further exxareggated by the fact that, the Azeris are themselves a divided nation, separated by the borders of Iran and the Azerbaijani republic. These two circumstances have combined to pose an Azeri dilemma.
The History of the Problem
(snip)
You must understand the nature of dictatorships, they need enemies, external ememies are good BUT internal ones are even better, Best ones are both internal & external. Of course it helps if they are a small minority and thier country is small. The Azeris are tailormade for this abuse. In fact if they didn't already exist the Mullahs in Tehran would have to invent them.