'Neda' becomes rallying cry for Iranian protests

A 40 second video clip of an Iranian girl, named “Neda,” the Farsi word for voice, allegedly shot dead by a Basij soldier has been circulating the web as of Saturday. Her shooting comes as Iran faces demonstrations in the magnitude not seen since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

The footage shows the girl, with a singe bullet wound in her chest, lying on her back as her family tries to unsuccessful save her. Blood is first seen leaving her chest, and later flowing from her mouth and nose as her face is eventually left covered in blood. 2 minutes later she was pronounced dead.

"RIP NEDA, The World cries seeing your last breath, you didn't die in vain. We remember you."

That post on Twitter came from a man who identified himself as an American guitarist in Nashville, Tennessee.

Amid the hundreds of images and videos of Saturday's brutal crackdown on protesters in Iran that flooded the Internet, it was the graphic video showing the death of a young woman that touched a nerve among those following the events in Tehran for more than a week.

Like most of the information coming out of Tehran, it is impossible to verify her name, Neda, or the circumstances of her apparent death, captured close-up on a bystander's camera.

CNN ran a pixilated version of the video, which was posted on YouTube. It shows a woman in jeans and white sneakers collapsed on the street, as the person with the camera -- most likely from a cell phone -- runs toward her and focuses on her face.

One blogger posted that Neda was protesting with her father in Tehran when pro-government Basiji militia opened fire and shot her in the heart.

"The final moments of her tender young life leaked into the pavement of Karegeh Street today, captured by cell phone cameras," the unnamed blogger posted on Newsvine.com. "And not long after, took on new life, flickering across computer screens around the world on YouTube, and even CNN." iReport.com: Share images from Iran

People on Twitter starting forming a discussion group with the "hashtag" .neda to post their comments about her death and media coverage of the killing, as well. Watch how online community is following Iranian protests »

It became one of the top "trending topics" on Twitter by Saturday evening, early Sunday Tehran time.

"Neda, ojala que tu muerte no sea en vano," one poster tweeted. "Neda, I hope that your death is not in vain."