Death of Neda Agha-Soltan asylum in Germany in 2010. On 20 June 2009, at around 6:30 p.m., Neda Agha-Soltan was sitting in her Peugeot 206 in traffic on Kargar Avenue in Tehran. She was accompanied by her music teacher, Hamid Panahi. They were on their way to participate in the protests against the results of the 2009 Iranian presidential election. The car's air conditioner was not working well, so she stopped her car some distance from the main protests and got out on foot to escape the heat. She was standing and observing the sporadic protests in the area when she was shot in
Martyrdom in Iran of "secular martyrdom." Activists in the 2009 green revolution began calling those killed during protests "martyrs." One important example is Neda Agha-Soltan a young student who was shot to death during a protest. A video of her death spread throughout the world, and her image became a symbol of resistance used to gain international political support. The fact that her name, Neda, means voice or calling in Persian, was also important, because it represented a call to martyrdom for the cause. Martyrdom in Iran The concept of martyrdom is understood in the Western world as facing persecution and giving of