u/ActionReasonable4094

1. "Azeri" or "Azerbaijani" isn't really an identity in Iran. It's just Turk. Turks are an ethnic group that encompasses those who live in Azerbaijan region, Qashqais in the Shiraz region and the Turks of Khorasan region. Turkmen groups are seen as a seperate group with their own distinct culture/language that we find hard to understand and identify with.
2. We are much more conservative than Turks in Turkey or Azerbaijan. And I'm not just talking about religion. Turks of Iran have a stereotype of being very traditional in political and family matters, especially when compared to groups like Shomalis (Northerners). Iranian turks tend to marry young, lead traditional lives and be very conscious about dissenting from the government (Azerbaijan was the last province to come out in the latest wave of protests).
3. We are seen as equal to Persians. Everyone in Iran knows how much Turks have contributed to Iranian society and all Turks are integrated into the Iranian economy with very good education and employment rates. There are entire neighbourhoods in Tehran that are completely run by Turkish businesses. There is a saying in Iran that goes "Turk, Fars bir olsun" which just goes to show how close we are to Persians. Persian-Turk marriages are extremely common and you are more likely to find a half-Turk half-Persian Iranian in the diaspora than a full Persian these days. This is in stark contrast to Sunni Kurds and Balochis who are shunned in all but name from the Iranian political system and economy. They face heavy discrimination by the Shi'ite majority and they are often seen as the "working class" of the Tehrani economy. They also intermarry less due to the stigma around Sunni-Shi'a marriages.
4. Turkicness is a huge part of our identity. Anyone that tells you otherwise is intentionally lying or has never been to Iran. You will never meet a more proud ethnic group in Iran. Turks are very sensitive about their heritage and even the most religious ones are proud ethno-nationalists. Persians, on the other hand, develop this weird self-hatred when they become extremely religious, which is why we see great Persian figures like Cyrus the Great tossed aside in favour of the great Qizilbashes like Ismail or Nader Shah. It's actually very sad and I do feel bad for Persians in that regard.
5. Our language is not at risk. There are many people on here worried that we will lose our language, but I think Turks in South Azerbaijan will be the last ethnic "minority" to lose it, if it comes down to that. In Tabriz, Ardabil, Zanjan and Urmia, you won't hear a single word of Farsi being spoken. In fact, due to the high migration rate to Turkey, many Persians have actually started to learn Turkish from our tv series and movies. So if anything, the lanuage is seeing a revival. Honestly, it's more likely to see the Kurdish language dying. Recently I've been seeing people use a lot of Farsi in Iranian Kurdistan, to the point where some young children cannot speak a word of Kurdish. Other areas with Turkic groups are not doing too well either. Khorasani Turks have it the worst right now as most Khorasani Turks in the Northeast moved away to big cities like Mashhad and Tehran, leaving behind their cities of Quchan and Bojnord which are now being settled by Kurmanji Kurds and Turkmens. Qashqais are also losing their identity as their settlements become more and more urbanized.
6. We coexist with non-Turkic groups better than you guys do. From what I see, Azerbaijanis aren't real fond of Armenia and Turks have a strong dislike of Kurds. Well, we have both of those groups in South Azerbaijan and get along with them very well. Armenians are actually treated as people that we should admire for all the alcohol they supply us with for our parties (in Iran alcohol is prohibited unless you're a Christian). Kurds are also seen as our fellow brothers and I haven't seen any hate towards them. There's even more love for them in the Northeast where Khorasani Turks and Khorasani Kurds  are so intermixed that almost all Khorasani Kurds speak Khorasani Turkic and vice-versa. Ultimately, I think this comes down to the fact that Iran is much more of an multiethnic meltingpot than Turkey and Azerbaijan so we have learned to live alongside different groups as well as them learning to live with us for centuries.

I'm genuinely confused about why online Middle Eastern spaces treat being South Asian as though it's a crime against humanity. I often see Arabs saying that Persians are actually Indians or Turks say that Kurds are Indian immigrants. Both of these claims are obviously genetically false, but why are we throwing the term "Indian" or "South Asian" like it's an insult anyways? Last time I checked, India is doing far better than any of our countries in the Middle East and they are an extremely well educated populace in diaspora communities.

It's not just online either, there is a large amount of racism in Persian, Arab and Turkish communities towards Pakistanis and Indians, even those who are muslims.

And please don't reply with "you're generalizing, not everyone's like that" because that is a disingenuous response. I know that not every Middle Eastern person is like this. I'm Iranian myself and anyone that's spent enough time in Middle Eastern families/spaces knows that these racist remarks are thrown around often, whether they want to admit it or not.