Neda Agha-Soltan, a young Iranian girl is killed by plainclothes in Tehran

A year ago today the symbol of Iranian struggle for democracy – Caution – this video contains graphic violence

A year ago that voter protests in Tehran resulted in death, injury and a crackdown on human rights in Iran. The death of 27 year old Neda Agha Soltan caught the world’s attention. Here was a young girl shot down randomly in the street and caught on cell phone camera. Her death has become an international symbol of the Iranian struggle for freedom.

امروز، سی خرداد، ساعت 7 بعد از ظهر این دختر جوان توسط لباس شخصی ها کشته شد

Basij shot to death a young woman in Tehran’s Saturday June 20th protests

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How I secretly filmed the For Neda documentary

The Iranian regime is trying to neutralise the impact of protest victim Neda Agha-Soltan’s death. The real story has to be told

Saeed Kamali DehghanGuardian.co.uk

Last November I went to Iran to film the family of Neda Agha-Soltan in secret for a documentary, which is now circulating virally in Iran even before its public release on 14 June. Neda was killed in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election in Iran last June and a video of her death was circulated around the world in a matter of minutes.

The film – entitled For Neda – looks at her life and death through a series of firsthand interviews with her family, together with amateur video footage both before and after she was killed. Directed by the British award-winning film-maker Antony Thomas, For Neda is a project by Mentorn Media and HBO.
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HBO documentary refutes official Iranian propaganda

Film about Iranian protest victim Neda Agha-Soltan beats regime’s censors Jamming and power cuts fail to prevent documentary going viral

Video showing death of Neda Agha Soltan in new documentary

The Guardian – How the Neda film went viral Link to this video

Iran is jamming satellite broadcasts in attempts to stop people seeing a new film telling the story of, the young woman who was shot dead during the mass protests that followed last summer’s disputed presidential election.

Viewers in Tehran complained of jamming and power cuts on Wednesday and yesterday when the Voice of America Persian TV network broadcast the documentary For Neda, featuring the first film interviews with the family of the 27-year-old.

The 70-minute film, made by Mentorn Media for HBO and being screened in the US this month, has rapidly gone viral in Iran in the run-up to next Saturday’s anniversary of the disputed elections that triggered the protests. It is available on YouTube so can be seen by anyone with access to the internet.  The video follows the story break.
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IRAN shuts down dissident websites

Government moves to silence criticism it says is CIA funded

Iran-protesters-afp-web The government in Tehran has closed down 29 websites associated with dissident political groups. The government FARS news organization said the sites were funded by the CIA.

The government hacked the sites to detect who was running them and who used the sites. The government arrested 30 people in the crackdown on dissidents, proving the Internet is not a safe haven from governments.

Websites listed in the FARS statement are off-line. One site,  Human Rights Activists in Iran, says it is down for maintenance.

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Call for UN Human Rights investigation of Ahmadinejad

Nothing may get done but if someone doesn’t try people will die in vain

From UN Watch – The following appeal by 50 Iranian rights activists, submitted by UN Watch, has now been published as an official United Nations document (A/HRC/13/NGO/117), and will be formally circulated by the Human Rights Council next week when it debates “Agenda Item 4: Situations that require the Council’s attention.” Click here for original PDF, or see below.

This doesn’t mean any action will be taken, but at least ensures that the issue is placed squarely before the assembled delegates and UN officials. Continue reading ‘Call for UN investigation of Ahmadinejad to be on UN Rights Council agenda next week’

Iranian film-maker arrested along with family

Jafar Panahi held with his wife, daughter and 15 guests on Monday  Tehran’s prosecutor claims Panahi’s detention is ‘not political’

Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was detained by Iran's security forces on Monday with his wife and daughter.

Guardian.co.uk Iran News -Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was detained by Iran’s security forces on Monday with his wife and daughter.

Iranian security forces have detained Jafar Panahi, one of the country’s most internationally celebrated film-makers, as part of a continuing crackdown on supporters of the opposition Green movement.

Panahi was held with his wife, daughter and 15 guests on Monday evening, according to Kalame, the website of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims he won last June’s disputed presidential election.

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Another Iranian young man dies in prison

Mostafa Mir Ebrahimi, 23, dies in prison after 6 months with no explanation

Mostafa Mir Ebrahimi 23

The tragedies in Iran keep mounting.

Mostafa Mir Ebrahimi was 22 years old when he went to visit the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman shot in the streets of Tehran.

He was arrested and taken to a secret location. His friends told his family who searched for him without success.

He was not charged with a crime nor did he stand trial. His name didn’t show up on the long list of detainees.

Somehow, he died in prison without explanation.

His father was informed of his death but told the body would not be given back to the family. The government apparently has buried the body and will tell the family the grave site later. From Persian2English

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By Jason Rezaian, San Fransisco Chronicle blog

Tomorrow, the anniversary of the Iranian revolution, is the last obvious day for some time that the opposition in Iran will use to protest the current government and most here expect that the streets will be filled with people from all sides of the political spectrum.
If the sounds coming from the streets of Tehran tonight — a combination of people chanting anti-government slogans from their rooftops and pro-government supporters lighting fireworks — are any indication, the rift within Iranian society continues to grow.

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