Neda’s fiance ‘told her not to go’

The fiance of the young Iranian woman whose death on Saturday June 20 was filmed on a mobile phone, before the footage circulated around the world, has told how he begged her not to go to the demonstration in Tehran where she was shot.Caspian Makan told the Sunday Telegraph that Neda Agha Soltan - also known in some reports as Neda Soltani - said she was determined to attend even though she belonged to one of the groups marching that day. "My only goal and hope is freedom and democracy for the people of Iran," she told him.

Makan said he warned her that she could get hurt, but that Neda said it didn't matter.

Makan, a 37-year-old photographer, said Neda's family was still trying to come to terms with her death. She had to be buried without a memorial service - banned by the authorities in case it became a focus for further protest - and her family had been moved from their home in east Tehran and barred from speaking to the media.

"The last time I saw Neda was a few days earlier. I went by in the afternoon to give her a gift for Iranian women's day. We were supposed to see each other on Sunday." Instead, he got a phone call from Neda's sister telling him his fiancee was dead.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian diplomat has claimed that the CIA might have been behind Neda's killing. Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri, Iran's ambassador to Mexico, was reported by CNN to have said the shooting was very suspicious.

"My question is, how is it that this Miss Neda is shot from behind, got shot in front of several cameras, and is shot in an area where no significant demonstration was behind held?"

He went on: "Well, if the CIA wants to kill some people and attribute that to the government elements, then choosing women is an appropriate choice, because the death of a woman draws more sympathy."

CIA spokesman George Little responded: "Any suggestion that the CIA was responsible for the death of this young woman is wrong, absurd and offensive." ·