Neda Hassani Neda Hassani Neda Hassani (born 1977, Tehran, Iran; d. June 23, 2003, London, England) is notable as an Iranian protester who committed suicide by self-immolation. Neda Hassani was born to Ahmed and Foroogh Hassani, as the eldest child of an Iranian family of three children. The family left Iran in the early 1980s, taking refuge in Greece before settling in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Hassani attended Carleton University, studying computer science. Hassani was a supporter of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, as of 1988, following the execution of her uncle, Mahmoud Hassani, in Iran. She was not a member of the
Neda Agha-Soltan Graduate Scholarship financial resources of their own to study at Oxford. He said that other universities were winning the competition to attract the best graduate students, adding that donations such as these were "absolutely vital" for the college to be able to "attract and retain the best young minds". A college spokesman said that the scholarship had not been set up as part of a political decision, and if the initial donations had been refused, this would have been interpreted as a political decision too. The university (which did not receive a letter of complaint from the embassy) made it clear that