Iran: "New Revelations" In Neda Shooting

By: Tucker Reals
Topics: World Watch

(AP Photo)

Iran's state-run TV station is reporting "new revelations" in the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old music student who's death fueled the opposition movement and swept across Internet social networks as an emblem of Iranian resistance.

According to the report by Press TV, Neda was killed "in an ally away from the scene of clashes."

The network quoted the man who allegedly drove her to hospital as saying her death appeared to be "highly suspicious," as there were no police, Basij militia, or any other Iranian security forces nearby.

Verifying the details of Press TV's report is impossible as Iran's hard-line rulers have expelled almost all foreign news staff from the country and cracked down hard on any voices of dissent in the wake of the disputed June 12 election.

"People were standing, there was traffic and people were walking by. Suddenly I saw a girl put her hand on her chest and fall down, and blood was coming out of her mouth and nose," the alleged driver said, according to Press TV.

The report claimed that the driver's comments serve only to add to the "confusion already surrounding the shooting, which has been blamed upon Iranian security forces by the Western media hype."

Press TV claimed the first indication that her death was suspicious was the discovery that she was killed by a small caliber handgun, "a weapon that is not used by Iranian security forces."

"Policemen are not authorized to use weapons against people," Tehran Police Chief Azizallah Rajabzadeh said, according to the Press TV report.

Tucker Reals
Tucker Reals is a senior news editor and overnight site editor for CBSNews.com, based at CBS News' London bureau.

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by Paul-Solomon June 30, 2009 9:51 PM EDT: The videotaped killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot to death by an unknown gunman while watching a demonstration in Tehran, spread quickly through the world via the Internet, and has made her the martyred symbol of the protests that followed her country's disputed presidential election.

When the 40-second video of Agha-Soltan's death appeared nine days ago, the powerful image of a defenseless woman silenced by a brutal regime cemented her place in history as the symbolic victim of oppression. The 26-year-old's death has outraged the world and brought almost universal resistance to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election as President of Iran.

The videotaped killing is forbidden viewing in Iran, and the government quickly declared the killing a fabrication. Ahmadinejad on Monday ordered a public investigation into Agha-Soltan's death, calling it "suspicious," but don't expect a reversal of claims that the state militia had nothing to do with it.

"Interference by enemies of Iran" was among the explanations that Ahmadinejad cited as a reason for the death. He also blamed "propaganda by the foreign media." He said that reports that Agha-Soltan was shot by pro-government Basij militiamen from a rooftop near where protesters were demonstrating was fabricated by western media. This prompted Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri, to give his view of who was responsible: "It was the CIA."

The timing of Ahmadinejad's sudden response into the death of Agha-Soltan's is no coincidence. It comes just as Iranian officials finished their recount of the vote in the disputed election between Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein Mousavi. The government announced on Monday that the results remain unchanged.

What was supposed to be a close race ended in a landslide, and there remains no explanation for this. And the government knows that just saying the file is closed is simply not enough. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran's powerful Guardian Council, both released statements last week saying the results are final and that no errors were found. The protests have continued, however, even as the government has continued it's crackdown.

Protesters are not likely to be swayed by reports, whether on election fraud or the death of Agha-Soltan, put out by the same government officials that most people blame for these crimes. The government can win back the streets, but it has no control over myth making. As writer Howard Chua-Eoan said in the recent issue of Time magazine, Agha-Soltan "died on the Web, and she is being given a second, perhaps eternal, life on it."

By her tragic death, Neda Agha-Soltan became a powerful, larger-than-life symbol of protest. The Iranian government can't control the powerful image of her dying as we watch on YouTube or on the evening news, or as protesters carry pictures of her bloodied face. Ahmadinejad can try to divert the public's attention, but it won't work. The videotaped killing has become the defining image of her country's corruption, and Agha-Soltan has become a symbol of that corruption. Fueled by Internet sites, blog posts, Twitter messages, and the traditional media, the gruesome death of a young woman in a nation in turmoil has given birth to an icon.

http://www.paulsolomon.blogspot.com; Reply to this comment


by keyingdemon June 30, 2009 9:10 AM EDT: EVERYONE knows that a state run communications network works only for the ones telling them what to say. Ahmadinejad, like the clerics, are no better than Saddam Hussein and all too soon they'll end up the same way. This woman was killed to devert the protests and it's backfired. Ahmadinejad and the others' days are dawning. The Iranian people have already spoken - and they're tired of lies.; Reply to this comment


by cbsantispin June 30, 2009 12:05 AM EDT: I believe this entire matter to be an internal Iranian matter, but only to the extent that Iranian citizens are allowed to gather peacefully and be heard by their government. When that is not the case and Iranian citizens are reported to have been beaten with clubs and axes breaking bones and drawing blood, then the Iranian government forfeits its rights in claiming this to be an internal Iranian matter since Human Rights violations trump this claim. Iranian citizens are crying out for help and to be heard using high tech tools like Twitter and FaceBook in the U.S. for a voice and expression. As the guardians of Freedom, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religious choice, Americans are obligated to answer these calls. It's not interference when beaten, detained and suppressed Iranians are requesting the Worlds help.; Reply to this comment


by apple2pie June 29, 2009 6:09 PM EDT: Actually I hope the theocracy's lies will continue because it just sows more discord among their citizens.; Reply to this comment


by CLoverNYC1 June 29, 2009 5:27 PM EDT: What the world thinks of Iran and its terrorist regime is obviously of major importance or Ahmadinejad the Puppet would not bother disseminating this awkward propaganda about Neda's death.

The whole world has seen the pictures and they did not lie.

If President Obama is intent on proceeding with talks, he'd be more effective initiating rapprochement with the real power in Iran, not Ahmadinejad.

Wonder how low he'll bow this time.; Reply to this comment


by presjfk June 29, 2009 5:12 PM EDT: It happened in an alley? The whole world saw her shot in the street, brought to the ground where people tried to help her. The Iran regime is operating on the old adage that the bigger the lie, more will believe.; Reply to this comment


by oldsoftee June 29, 2009 3:57 PM EDT: It is truly disturbing how they try to rewrite the truth.; Reply to this comment


by rowsky9 June 29, 2009 3:34 PM EDT: do they think we're THAT stupid?; Reply to this comment


by SAMTORRES66 June 29, 2009 12:45 PM EDT: Irania women are hot...Is a shame how this beautiful gal was killed.; Reply to this comment

by CLoverNYC1 June 29, 2009 11:23 AM EDT

The theocratic bloodthirsty regime in Iran is getting nervous over the death of one young woman. muslims understand the machinery martyrdom of impossible to halt once it is started.

Neda's eyes tell the whole story no matter what Ahmadinejad says. No one is fooled by his lies.

Her death is just another glaring that islam is not a 'religion of peace' and the revolt has begun.

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