Between 2,000 and 3,000 people gathered near the Tehran University, on July 9, 2009, to mark the 10th anniversary of the student uprising in 1999. Several demonstrators were sprayed with tear gas and beaten by the members of the pro-government militant group, the Basij.http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/09/iran.protests.anniversary/index.html

Hundreds of thousands gathered in the streets of Tehran in the days following the Iranian presidential election. By June 22, 2009, Iran's Press TV confirmed 13 deaths due to the violence but some reports said as many as 150 people may have been killed in the riots.http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/22/iran.election/index.html

The electoral commission declared incumbent leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner by a landslide on June 13, 2009. Supporters of the challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi expressed their outrage by demonstrating and protesting. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for an investigation into allegations of vote-rigging.

As the demonstrations continued and journalists were restricted from reporting on the upheaval, disturbing images and videos emerged on social networking sites. One video in particular, shows the death of a woman named Neda, who was killed by Iraqi police.