January 8, 2010

Source:

The Iranian state-sponsored English language channel Press TV this week aired clips of a documentary it says shows “another side” of the “alleged” death of 27-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman whose grisly shooting, captured on film, became a galvanizing icon for the opposition.

The Press TV report claims that Agha-Soltan was a pawn in a “plot” and that the shooting was staged and the blood seen pouring from her nose and mouth in the now-famous video was fake.

According to this report, Agha-Soltan was actually shot and killed by her co-conspirators in the car on the way to the hospital.

Witnesses, and Arash Hejazi, the doctor on the scene who attempted to revive Agha-Soltan, say she was shot by a plainclothes pro-government militiaman, although state authorities have maintained her death was either faked or premeditated as a plot against the government.

Hejazi described the report as a “shameful attempt to cover up the truth and place the blame for Neda’s death on others.”

“A young innocent woman was shot dead while protesting. Since her killing, until today, the Iranian government has been doing all it can to distance itself from it and throw the responsibility on others, instead of acting responsibly and dealing with those who are guilty,” Hejazi said.

The Radio Free Europe report went on to note that the Iranian government had previously accused foreign intelligence agencies, the BBC and Iranian dissident groups of orchestrating Agha-Soltan’s killing.

–  in Beirut