Anti-Syrian soccer protests in Iran position Azeris as potential pawn in Syrian strife

By James M. Dorsey

Stadiums in the northwestern city of Tabriz, capital of Iran’s predominantly Azeri minority, have emerged as a platform for protest against Iranian government policies and demands for greater rights for the country’s Turkic minority.
In the latest protest, supporters of Tabriz’s Traktorsazi Tabriz Football club, a flashpoint of East Aze…