Death of Neda Agha-Soltan the chest. As captured on amateur video, she collapsed to the ground and was attended to by a doctor, her music teacher, and others from the crowd. Someone in the crowd around her shouted, "She has been shot! Someone, come and take her!" The videos were accompanied by a message from a doctor, later identified as Arash Hejazi, who said he had been present during the incident (but fled Iran out of fear of government reprisals): Her last words were, "I'm burning, I'm burning!" according to Panahi. She died en route to Tehran's Shariati hospital. However, the civilian physician who
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