Washington, 10 December (WashingtonTV)—Neda Aqa-Soltan, the young Iranian woman who was killed during the post-election protests in Tehran, on Tuesday was named one of the top 10 heroes of 2009 by the US magazine, Time.
Her death, captured on film and broadcast across the Internet, provoked international outrage, and the 26-year-old philosophy student became a symbol of the opposition movement, which says that the 12 June vote was rigged.
Neda “was an unintentional hero,” Time magazine said, in naming her the number two hero of the year.
Her last moments “turned into probably the most widely witnessed death in human history,” it said.
“In the days and weeks that followed, Agha-Soltan's name became a battle cry for Iranian protesters, her face a symbol for the thousands of people who suffered under the government's heavy-handed crackdown,” said Time magazine.
A member of the Basij, a volunteer militia force under the command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, is said to have fired the shot that killed the 26-year-old, on the sidelines of a rally in Tehran.
However, Iranian authorities, who have described the death as “suspicious”, say foreign governments and the opposition movement killed her in an attempt to smear the government.
Neda’s parents assert that the Iranian government is to blame for their daughter’s death.
Meanwhile, Iranian protesters are one of ten candidates Time magazine has selected for its annual Person of the Year recognition.
The Iranian protesters have received the most votes in a poll of readers on Time’s website, edging US President Barack Obama by a 5 to 1 margin.
Source: Time magazine website
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