Neda Soltani

Not to be confused with Neda Agha-Soltan.

Neda Soltani (Persian: ندا سلطانی; born 1977, in Isfahan^[1]) is an Iranian exile. During the 2009 Iranian election protests, she was teaching English at Azad University^[2] when her Facebook profile photo was mistakenly published in many articles about the death of the similarly named Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot and killed during the protests.

As a result, her identity was confused with that of Agha-Soltan, to whom she bore a superficial facial resemblance. She tried vainly removing her photo from the Internet and the media. Claims and counter-claims were made, including claims from the Iranian government that she was the same person as Agha-Soltan, and had faked her death, and others who claimed that she was herself an agent of the Iranian government, impersonating Agha-Soltan to sully her memory.^[3]

Within two weeks, she had to flee from Iran to avoid arrest.^[4] She was granted asylum in Germany in 2010.^[5][6][7]

As of 2012^[update], Soltani remains exiled from Iran and is under Germany's asylum.^[3]

She has authored a book, My Stolen Face, narrating her story of the incident.^[8]

References

1. "Neda Soltani". Verlagsgruppe Random House. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
2. Katy Kelleher (Jun 15, 2010). "Neda's Doppelganger Lives In Exile". Jezebel. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
3. "Neda Soltani: 'The media mix-up that ruined my life'". BBC News. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
4. Tracy McVeigh (14 October 2012). "Iranian fugitive: identity mix-up with shot Neda wrecked my life". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
5. (in German) David Schraven, Das zweite Leben der Neda Soltani, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Heft 05/2010. Consulted on February 6, 2010.
6. Iranian mistaken for 'Neda' seeks German asylum, AFP. Consulted on February 6, 2010.
7. "How The Media Betrayed Neda Soltani". Anorak.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-14.
8. My Stolen Face. September 29, 2012). 29 September 2012.