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Bloody image showing Neda lying on the ground in the midst of a pool of blood. A screen shot from the YouTube video.
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In what is fast becoming a defining moment of the Iranian protests, the largest since the 1979 Islamic revolution, a young Iranian woman named Neda Agha Soltani was shot dead in cold blood by the Iranian Basij.
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The video of the death emerged via YouTube and shows the protester clothed in modern outfit wearing jeans and a top collapsing onto the ground. An elderly man standing next to her is reported to be her father comforts her as she dies.
As Neda collapses, blood can be seen pouring out of her heart onto the ground. She lies flat on the floor surrounded by her father and another man who claims to be a doctor and tries to stop the rapid loss of blood from her chest where she was shot.
Within seconds of Neda falling on the floor, she appears to lose consciousness and blood starts pouring out of her nostrils and mouth covering her face.
The gruesome image has captivated Iranians and further exposes the brutality of the Iranian security forces and those in charge. There was an outpour of solidarity from the Iranian people for Neda and the Soltani family.
The protesters, who have heavily utilised modern technology such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, have once again used these tools to express their condolences to the Soltani family and to rally the people to expose the brutality of the crackdown by the ruling regime
For full coverage of the Iranian election protests click here
Unprovoked and brutal attack
The attack on Neda by the Basij, the paramilitary force directly under the control of the Revolutionary Guards, seems to have been totally unproved.
Neda is alleged to have been shot by a Basij sharpshooter hiding in the rooftop of the civilian houses. The sharpshooter singled out Neda, who is reported to have done nothing warranting such a response, and aimed the gun straight at her heart. The bullet pierced her heart causing Neda to collapse immediately with blood gushing out or her wounds, and her nostrils and mouth.
Questions arise why was Neda singled out? Was it for her modern outfit or that a young woman boldly coming out and expressing her feelings did not go down well with the religious Basij gunman who shot her?
The unproved and brutal attack on Neda clearly exposes the tactics the ruling regime has imposed to clamp down on the protests.
On the new Facebook page dedicated to her memory, Nada is referred to as the "Angel of Iran", whilst her Wikipedia page refers to her also as the "voice of Iran". The Facebook page already has over 2,100 members.
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