The day that Neda died

The young woman was even deprived of a funeral ceremony by the authorities.
In fact, every mosque in Tehran was instructed not to organize any event in honor of Neda Soltani who was gunned down last Saturday during a demonstration in the capital.
Her fiancé, Kaspin Makan, described her last moments in an interview with BBC Persian TV:
She had been sitting with her music teacher in a car, stuck in traffic, when she decided to get out because of the heat. “She got out of the car for just for a few minutes [and] that’s when she was shot dead,” he said.
Mr Makan quoted eyewitnesses as saying she appeared to have been targeted deliberately by “paramilitaries in civilian clothing.”
He added that officials had prevented mourners holding a memorial service at a mosque on Monday. “The authorities are aware that everybody in Iran and throughout the whole world knows about her story, they were afraid that lots of people could turn up.”
The regime clearly fears that a public funeral would exacerbate the situation, and strengthen the demonstrators.
Thanks to the internet, and YouTube, Neda, in just two days, has become the symbol, the face of the protest movement.
A funeral ceremony could have easily attracted vast crowds.
The authorities are currently attempting, and with some success, to dissuade Iranians from marching in the streets to challenge the election results, and thus the regime itself, all the more so as martyrs, victims of violence and oppression, play a pivotal role in Shiism.
At its heart is the death of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet, who, along with his brother Abbas, led a revolt against the corrupt and repressive regime of the Caliph. Both were killed in battle by the latter’s forces, led by Yazid, and are buried under the Golden Dome, in Karbala, Iraq. The anniversary of his death, Ashura, is a day of mourning for all Shiites.
According to Shiite ritual, mourning the fallen occurs three, seven and forty days after their death. These commemorations, if they are able to take place, and lead to even more violence and deaths could severely undermine the regime.
This same cycle of demonstrations, deaths, and mourning occurred thirty years ago, and eventually lead to the overthrow of the Shah.
As such, the authorities are intent on clearing the streets, and preventing further marches. Today, the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful militia whose role is to protect and defend the regime, issued a stern warning to any potential troublemakers. Those who chose to march should be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces.
As a result, the demonstrations are drawing smaller crowds.
Today, only several hundred protestors gathered in central Tehran.
They were met with tear gas and assaulted by the police…
Yet, Mirhossein Mousavi, who has accused the regime of rigging the presidential ballot, refused to back down. Though the authorities are directly blaming him for the violence and deaths, he, in fact, is holding the government’s illegal actions responsible for the current chaos: shooting at the people, militarizing the city, scaring the people, provoking them, and displaying power are all the result of the unlawfulness we're witnessing today.
For his part, he claims that the law is on his side :protesting to lies and fraud is your right, only if it is done peacefully. Hence, did he ask his followers to avoid violence in your protest .
Yet, the regime is increasing the pressure, not only on the demonstrators, but also on Mousavi himself, to make him think twice about persevering in his quest to have the election annulled. Ali Shahrokhi, head of the Iranian parliament’s judiciary committee said:
Moussavi’s calling for illegal protests and issuing provocative statements have been a source of recent unrests in Iran. Such criminal acts should be confronted firmly.
It is conceivable that the regime will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute him if he does not relent.

The price of resistance is steadily rising. At best, it is assault and arrest, but as Neda's tragic fate demonstrates, human life has become a cheap commodity on the streets of Tehran.

We can only make one wish: that Neda and all the other victims, the anonymous ones, did not die for nothing, and that those holding the guns, and those directing them shall rue the day that Neda died...