Iranian Diversity

Please note that I am not here on an agenda to draw racist remarks. I am simply here to discuss theories and speculations of anthropology stemmed from curiosity of my origins. 

I have personally visited Iran seldom, and my parents have lived there since their 20's and emigrated to the Americas. They have made several visits in the past several years, and I have asked them for anthropological purposes to photograph the populations as well as several of their families (Iranian families are very big and traditional just like the old days hence the 67+ million population). And wow am I surprised to see the large ethnic diversity of this very land. It's on par with America, and there's no doubt that this behemoth of a civilization was once an extensive region of trade and tradition.

I have speculated why is this so, and who exactly are these people?

Among theories I have read on AEHF, they seem no different from others nor wikipedia articles. But then again, these are only theories provided by several others which yield contradictions. For example, my mother told me she has ancestors from Urmia, Tabriz, and the Fars province. These are Turkish regions consisted of the Qashqai, Seljuk Turks, and the ancient Perisans themselves. If you look further into their speculated origins, the Qashqai are a mixture of Lurish ethnic background and Oghuz Turks; the Seljuk Turks are also origins of the Oghuz Turks; and the Perisans, I'll leave that for later. So to speak...

It seems that the Oghuz Turks are dense among the Azeri population or perhaps to a certain extent, significantly contribute to their development as a minority. Oghuz Turks are from Transcaucasia, which is a Western Mongolian/Chinese region, an ethnic group Slavicized by the Russians according to documentation. I would expect these phenotypes in depiction as: almond shaped eyes, blue/green eyes, white skin, tall, straight brown hair, wide Nordic noses, like the girl below:

If this ethnic group is dispersed among Iran, why are these so called Oghuz/Azeri Turks portraying Semitic phenotypes (coarse curly hair, bushy eyebrows, hooked noses, dark eyes, long eye lashes) seemingly 40% of Iran's population? More specifically, why is it that this ethnic group of a Caucasian/European/Mongoloid background do not adhere to their genetic maps? It is said that they have mixed with Iranic elements, such as the Persians. But are not the ancient Persians a reflection of European race? This draws me to a conclusion that many citations of the origins of Azeri/Oghuz Turks are perhaps misleading, that they are in fact, derivatives of Semitic cultures, and not necessarily partial to Transcaucasia.

Or perhaps Caucasians in Iran were simply that: a predominant group of similar skull types to Indo-European branches. Meaning more in depth, the Iranian region was a capital for cultural exchange. I have noticed many Caucasian/European intermarriages which produce a predominantly European phenotype, and this was perhaps the case with Iran as it saw many faces of different cultures. The Russians to the north, the Greeks/Byzantium/Roman empires to the west, all possibly responsible for the European phenotypes in Iran. The Jews have dwelled for thousands of years in the Persian empire, but usually are very incisive in genetic imprinting as they have their spouses convert to the religion of Judaism. On the contrary, their semitic cousins, the Arabs, and many ancient Semitic tribes (Assyrians, Babylonians, Akaddians, etc.) might have gradually absorbed Indo-European Persians and many of their tribes while adopting their cultures and orthodox practices. Perhaps the Persians were an Indo-European race, yes, but sparse in origins with a very attractive lifestyle. Similar to how the Arabs in Turkey were fond of Turkish traditions and gradually adopted their culture simultaneously leaving their genetic footprints among the faces of a morphed society. The Mongols, the Arabs, the Indian tribes to the East, and many ancient Semitic civilizations shaped an early Persia. Linguistics should not be wholly responsible in determining the genetic make up of a country, especially since the Hungarians and Finns speak Uralic languages.