Yesterday, we reported on the controversy caused by the trip of Neda’s fiancé, Caspian Makan, to Israel and his meeting with Israeli president Shimon Peres during which Makan reportedly said that he’s an ambassador of the Iranian people.

Today, the controversy continues, with more bloggers and observers weighing in and accusing Makan of using Neda’s name and his relation with her to promote himself.

A Facebook page has been created in reaction to Makan’s actions. The banner of the page says “We hate Caspian Makan” in Farsi.

Neda’s family has also condemned the trip, arguing that Makan does not represent Neda’s family or the people of Iran.

In an interview posted today on the BBC Persian website, Neda’s mother, Hajar Rostami Motlagh, said that Makan met her daughter a few months before she died, and that if she hadn’t been killed, she and Makan would have gotten married. She has added, however, that being Neda’s fiancé doesn’t give Makan the right to claim that he represents Neda and the people of Iran.

Neda’s mother is quoted as saying that Makan shouldn’t have traveled to Israel at all.

“I told him that by doing this, you ruined yourself. Don’t ruin Neda and don’t abuse her name and let her soul rest in peace.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize Israel and Iranians are banned from traveling to the country.

The tensions between Iran and Israel have increased since Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who often verbally attacks Israel, came to power.

Makan has said that he traveled to Israel for peace. Go to Radio Free Europe.

Journalist Masih Alinejad, formerly of Etemade Melli daily and now the lead editorial writer for Rah-e-Sabz has published a denunciation of Caspian Makan. Makan is the man who has commonly been identified as the “fiancé” of Neda Agha Soltan, whose death on 20 June by a Basij gunshot has become a symbol of Iran’s post-election conflict.

We make no comment on Alinejad’s assertions but post them, translated by an EA correpondent, in the knowledge that Makan, who has just met the Israeli President Shimon Peres, is being mis-identified by some observers as “a leader of Iran’s opposition”:

How many times should Neda Agha Soltan die?

…A man named AliReza (Caspian) Makan travels around the world under the name of Neda’s fiancé and defines himself as a representative of the people of Iran. In this capacity, he met with the president of Israel, Shimon Peres. Mr. Makan is free to do whatever he wants but it is a disaster that everyone knows him in conjunction with Neda, a girl whose family has no agenda in Iran. On the other hand, he claims to represent the dead girl and has become her “voice” throughout the world.

…Neda’s sister wrote in an email that “…Makan and Neda were separated, they were together for a very short time…. The picture of Neda with short dress was taken by him… Makan and Neda were not together anymore but after Neda was killed we were forced to witness Makan sending Neda’s pictures to the media…” Go to original article.

The pictures of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose violent death documented on the streets of Tehran in January became a defining moment and image of the young Iranian opposition, had reached around the world and Israel too. Nearly nine months after her death, another reminder reaches Israel: Caspian Makan.

Caspian Makan claimed to be Neda’s beau at the time; they had planned to get engaged, he had told the press then.

Makan arrived in Israel last week. He arrived on an El Al flight and had his Iranian passport stamped at Ben Gurion airport, sure signs he doesn’t intend to return to the Iran he fled. He asked to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres, who was glad to accept, and the two met Monday evening.

“I come to Israel as an ambassador of the Iranian people, a messenger from the camp of peace,” the Iranian exile told his Israeli host. “I have no doubt that Neda’s spirit and soul feels the sensitivity and warmth I received in this meeting.” Go to LA Times.

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‘Freedom Was a Very Big Issue for Her’

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Spiegel:  Fiance of Murdered Iranian Protester Neda

Months after her murder in Tehran, little has been done to investigate the circumstances of Iranian protester Neda Agha-Soltan’s death. Her former fiance, Caspian Makan, who fled the country to avoid being part of a show trial, says he hopes the United Nations and other international organizations will challenge the Iranian government.

SPIEGEL: Your fiancee is considered the icon of the Iranian opposition movement. How deeply was Neda really involved in the “Green Movement”?

Caspian Makan: Neda wasn’t actually politically active. She first got started after the protests began. One of the last things she said was: “Everyone must do something.”

SPIEGEL: What motivated her?

Makan: She suffered under the regime. As a student, she was patronized and told what to do: How she should wear her headscarf, what make-up and what kind of lipstick was allowed. Freedom was a very big issue for her.

SPIEGEL: Were you and Neda aware of the danger?

Makan: We had a feeling that something would happen. I wanted to keep her from protesting, but Neda said: Even if I get hit by a bullet, the freedom of my people is more important.

SPIEGEL: What did you know about the perpetrator and the people commanding him?

Makan: Neda’s death was not the act of an individual — the entire regime is responsible. The leaders wanted to eliminate opponents like Neda in a targeted manner. The perpetrator was detained by the people who had been standing around Neda. His identity card showed that he was a Basij, a militia member. The witnesses still have his identity card — the name isn’t necessarily real, but the photo matches the perpetrator. The culprit also had an accomplice, but in the end both men were able to get away.

SPIEGEL: Do you still have hope that Neda’s death will be investigated?

Makan: My hope is that international organizations like the United Nations will pursue the murder of Neda and other protesters and charge the regime.

SPIEGEL: You yourself were also persecuted …

Makan: I was a reporter and I took photos of the demonstrations in full view of everyone. After Neda’s death, I was condemned by the regime and its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I was then arrested and spent 65 days in Evin Prison. I was only released on bail, and my family had to put up their house as collateral for my freedom. Two months after my release, I fled through the mountains to Turkey. I now live as a political refugee in Canada.

GENEVA — The boyfriend of an Iranian woman, who became an opposition icon after images of her death at a Tehran protest spread across the Internet, says the event has turned him into a staunch activist.

A year ago, “I wouldn’t have thought that I would be here,” Caspian Makan told AFP on the sidelines of a human rights conference in Geneva.

“It changed my life, I’m very active right now I’m going to be more of an activist,” said the writer and documentary maker after he fled Iran and found refuge in Canada.

“I lost my love, I lost my country, I miss everybody, my family, my job,” added Makan, speaking through an interpreter.

The killing of Neda Agha-Soltan on June 20, 2009 came to symbolise the public uprising against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory earlier that month in presidential elections the opposition says were rigged.

A graphic mobile phone video of her bleeding to death on the ground was seen around the world, triggering an outcry over the sometimes brutal crackdown on demonstrators.

Makan appeared at the Geneva conference alongside dissidents from China, Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Zimbabwe.

“The whole world was witness to the acts of this regime. It was a painful, inhuman act that revealed the dark face of the Iranian dictatorship,” he told delegates.

His 26 year-old partner’s killing was a “murder” carried out by “mercenaries of the regime,” he claimed.

“Her conscience and her courage became symbols for freedom, symbols that gave hope to thousands of Iranians.”

After her death, Makan was interviewed by foreign media, including the BBC and Al-Jazeera. This is what he believes marked him out: six days later, he was arrested at home.

“I wanted to tell the world the truth and what happened to Neda,” the dapper 38 year-old sighed.

Freed with the help of her family from Evin prison after 65 days of questioning, Makan decided to flee.

He managed to reach another Middle Eastern country, which he preferred not to name, and early this year he was granted political asylum in Canada. Go to AFP.

Anonymity is a privilege in journalism extended to sources and sometimes even to award winners.

Last week, a George Polk Award was given for an image of the violent death of an Iranian woman during protests last year. The man who first uploaded the video is anonymous, as are the man who captured the footage on a camera phone and the doctor who sent the video clip by e-mail with the message “please let the world know.” The uploader learned only last week that he had played a role in one of the highest honors in journalism, by reading an article about it on the Internet.

The 37-second video of the death of the woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, became a symbol of the Iranian opposition movement after the country’s disputed presidential election in June. It was first uploaded to the Internet by a 36-year-old native of Iran who lives in the Netherlands. After hearing about the award last week, the man said he was proud that the video had “concentrated the world’s attention to Iran and the Iranians, to their protest and their ways for expressing.”

The panel that administers the George Polk Awards, based at Long Island University, said it wanted to acknowledge the role of ordinary citizens in disseminating images and news, especially in times of tumult when professional reporters face restrictions, as they do in Iran. The university said it had never bestowed an award on an anonymous work before.

“It became such an important news element in and of itself,” said John Darnton, the curator of the Polk awards and a former reporter and editor for The New York Times. Go to NY Times.

Anonymity is a privilege in journalism extended to sources and sometimes even to award winners.

Last week, a George Polk Award was given for an image of the violent death of an Iranian woman during protests last year. The man who first uploaded the video is anonymous, as are the man who captured the footage on a camera phone and the doctor who sent the video clip by e-mail with the message “please let the world know.” The uploader learned only last week that he had played a role in one of the highest honors in journalism, by reading an article about it on the Internet.

The 37-second video of the death of the woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, became a symbol of the Iranian opposition movement after the country’s disputed presidential election in June. It was first uploaded to the Internet by a 36-year-old native of Iran who lives in the Netherlands. After hearing about the award last week, the man said he was proud that the video had “concentrated the world’s attention to Iran and the Iranians, to their protest and their ways for expressing.”

The panel that administers the George Polk Awards, based at Long Island University, said it wanted to acknowledge the role of ordinary citizens in disseminating images and news, especially in times of tumult when professional reporters face restrictions, as they do in Iran. The university said it had never bestowed an award on an anonymous work before.

“It became such an important news element in and of itself,” said John Darnton, the curator of the Polk awards and a former reporter and editor for The New York Times. Go to NY Times.

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Neda’s fiancé, Caspian Makan, told Radio Farda that he has called on Iranians to commemorate Neda’s birthday around the world and display white symbols in honor of peace and humanity. Go to Radio Free Europe.

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. Go to LA Times.

The fiance of the iconic slain Iranian protester Neda says her gravestone has been vandalized, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda reports. Caspian Makan told Radio Farda from Vancouver that the grave of Neda Agha Soltan was found vandalized on December 31. Makan blamed “those who opened fire on Neda and others” as responsible for the latest vandalism. “Whenever this kind of thing happens, it becomes clear that the Islamic republic does such acts of desecration, but they refuse to accept responsibility,” he said. Go to Radio Free Europe.

NEDA SOLTAN

A 27-year-old philosophy student, Ms Soltan has been described as Iran’s “Angel of Freedom” after she was shot on her way to a piano lesson in her native Tehran. Video footage of her killing has made her into a symbol of Iran’s struggle for democracy, which this year spilt over into violence.

She died on June 20, after speaking to her mother on her mobile telephone to tell her that riot police had fired tear gas at female protesters, who had taken to the streets to voice their concerns about the presidential elections. Shortly after the tear gas incident, police opened fire and Ms Soltan was shot dead.

Pictures of her lying dead in the street instantly flashed around the world. Her heartbroken mother, Hajar Rostami Motlagh, says she has derived comfort from the fact that the world had grieved for her daughter. Her daughter, she said, was not political. ”It was

all about being young and feeling passionate about freedom. Every other young Iranian was there.’’

Shappi Khorsandi, the Iranian-born stand-up comedian whose family fled to london after the Islamic revolution, writes:

The image of this beautiful, educated, brave young woman has become a symbol of Iran’s ”Green Movement’’ demanding democracy. Neda Soltan represents the lion-hearted, freedom-loving Iranians who are sacrificing their lives in these protests. It is ordinary people like Neda who will eventually bring democracy to Iran, not politicians in their suits with their bombs. Go to Telegraph.

Back in Tehran, the regime tried to buy off Ms Soltan’s parents by promising them a pension if they agreed that their daughter was a “martyr” killed by foreign agents.

Her mother, Hajar Rostami Motlagh, was outraged. “Neda died for her country, not so that I could get a monthly income from the Martyr Foundation,” she said. “If these officials say Neda was a martyr, why do they keep wiping off the word ‘martyr’ in red which people write on her gravestone? … Even if they give the world to me I will never accept the offer.”

As the new year approaches, the so-called Green Movement appears to be gaining confidence and momentum. It no longer seems impossible that the regime could fall in 2010. If and when it does, Ms Soltan will be remembered as the pre-eminent martyr of the second Iranian revolution. Go to Times UK.

IND:  This brief piece has it exactly right.  Iran is paving the way for Islam’s embrace of modernity.  What we are witnessing in Iran today is nothing less than Islamic Enlightenment.

While Obama has undoubtedly made the biggest difference on the global stage this year, the most enduring image may be that of the tragic end of Neda. Iran could be the transcendental force in the Middle East, the country that could be the lynchpin to a new era of understanding and progress. No country in the region seems better suited to democracy or a role on the international stage. But it won’t be until the voices of its people are heard.

Neda symbolized the promise of those people and revealed the Ahmadinejad regime and the ayatollahs who are the true puppet masters to be the blood-stained enemies of their own country they really are. History is not made by leaders … as Gandhi knew … but by the people they follow. Although she is gone, Neda bequeathed the world not only her life but an iconic image of struggle that has the power to inspire — a power that no nuclear program, no army, no claimed relationship with the almighty can bring to thugs like Ahmadinejad and his fellow authoritarians and dictators worldwide. Go to Foreign Policy.