A Death in Tehran - Recap

Will Lyman starts the broadcast by showing the street where Neda Agha Soltan was shot in Tehran. He says the cameraman risks certain arrest by filming this. Will tells us that several protesters write Neda’s name as remembrance, but the government keeps on erasing it.

Will tells us that Neda was unhappy with the Islamic Republic. We see the footage of Neda’s death captured by a cellphone. Lyman tells us how it’s related to the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We see footage of Mahmoud dodging questions about Neda’s murder on Larry King. Will tells us the election details from 09, how Mahmoud had stiff competition from Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi at the time of his running.. We are told from Will and reporter Scott Peterson that supporters for Mahmoud were making voting against Mahmoud difficulty. We see footage of the military police shutting down one of Mousavi’s polling offices and interior ministry. The media is already designating Mahmoud as the winner despite controversy. It wasn’t even the fact that Mahmoud won, but the margin of victory was wide, and it was the same number leaked the previous night before the official announcement was given. Mousavi calls the results a charade. We see amateur footage captured by protestors of military police called Basij beating up protesters who were angered by Mahmoud’s alleged victory. One protester, Faranek, a female is shot in the leg. She tells us her story. Will tells us how Mahmoud brought his supporters who received no action by the military police. Scott Peterson tells us his thoughts about how Mahmoud planned this out for years.

The protests continued. Will says that the numbers were huge not seen since the 1979 revolution. Former Prime Minister Mohsen Sazegara tells us how these protesters are the ones who want real democracy. The military police started to use live ammunition to kill the protesters. We see all the footage leading up Neda’s death.

Neda was walking with her music teacher when she was sought by a man from the military police. We see the death footage again and then see that the crowd actually captured the man who shot Neda. The crowd beats him up but elects to let him go.

Will tells us that the man’s identity was later published on the internet. Will also tells us that the military’s account of what happened was noticeably different. They claimed that they killed eleven protesters, but Lyman tells us that the hospitals in Iran say that more than thirty protesters died. They were buried by security offices before anyone could identify them. Neda’s family wasn’t allowed to hold a proper ceremony for her. Nade’s boyfriend, Caspian, speaks about Neda’s murder.

The Basij arrest Caspian without warrant and hold him for weeks. Will tells us how the regime tries to pass of the blame using really distasteful methods. Ali Khamenei, a cleric, and conservative politician gives a demonic sermon saying that Neda was part of the violent protesters even though there was no evidence that Neda was one. Fars News goes as far to say that Neda’s death was staged and that she was alive and living in Greece. Neda’s own music teacher who saw her is forced by the Basij to tell a different story of how Neda died in a staged documentary. The doctor who tried to save her travels abroad to tell a different story. He stays in the UK for death threats received in Iran. Lyman tells us how the Iran government tries to put a show of normalcy for outsiders.

However, not everyone goes with the act. Neda’s mother, Will tells us, is offered money to change her story about how Neda died. She refuses. Caspian the former boyfriend is put on house arrest and then flees to Turkey. The last minutes of the report have Caspian reflecting on Tehran.




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