40 days after, and Neda lives on.

It was 40 days ago when the Iranian regime (or at least the faction that was behind the Ahmadinejad coup against Iranian voters) unleashed its killing machine on the protesters. On a black Saturday on June 20, and after Ayatollah Khamenei essentially threatened the protest movement with violence, the various security forces of the country (the IRGC and its intelligence apparatus, the basij militia, the ministry of information agents, and the police) began a killing spree the extents of which is still unknown.

On that day, Neda Agah Soltan, an innocent 27 year old philosophy student, who was not even an active protester and was merely an observer of the events on the streets, was murdered by possibly this man. Her killing was captured on video, and quickly captured the imagination of millions across the world. Neda became the face of the movement, and the symbol for the innocence of the uprising.

The killing of Neda was undoubtedly a pivotal moment in the protests of the past 1.5 months. It was a game changer not only for the massive numbers of protesters, but also for the coup government and its backers (puppeteers?) as well as the international community.

The regime was probably thinking that by committing such murders, it wold be able to instill enormous fear amongst the masses, and scare people back into their homes. what it didn't realize was that such crimes have only fueled the anger of the people, and only serve to intensify the opposition beyond just the election fraud and into a threat to the existence of the whole political system. Forty days on, people across Iran have been on the streets again to commemorate Neda (and countless other martyrs). While until now the protests have been largely limited to Tehran, today we have seen videos of protests in all the major cities of the country.

Neda's murder also changed the way the authorities' have been running their killing campaign. While in the subsequent protests, they appeared to refrain from directly shooting people and targeting them (as they did in the first 10 days of the uprising), they seem to have moved their killing tactics indoors and inside the repressive (and unofficial) prisons. One such place, Kahrizak, was presumably closed by the direct order of the Supreme Leader, in a face saving (but empty) gesture after one the regime's own supporter's son was taken there and tortured to death. The description of the atrocities taken place in Kahrizak, which are just emerging, make Abu Ghoraib and Guantanamo look pale in comparison.

But Neda's killing also had a profound effect internationally, both amongst ordinary people, and politicians. Until then, Obama was still suggesting that he wanted to continue his plans of "engaging" the Iranian regime (i.e sitting down with Ahmadinejad at the negotiation table). However, we saw that with the increasing pressure created by the public dissemination of Neda's last moments(amongst other reasons), the Obama administration and the world are not talking much of engaging the Iranian regime.

On thing is for sure. The people of Iran have a long history of making sacrifices for freedom, and the list of those killed for this is long and heart-breaking. But Neda in her death has been the most powerful weapon in this struggle on the side of the Iranian people, and the way the government has been trying to cover up the story (or divert attention from it by making all sorts of crazy claims) is proof of Neda's enduring power.

Neda, rest in peace.