California-based artist Paula Slater unveiled a sculpture of Neda Agha Soltan in San Francisco on July 25 on the occasion of the International Day Of Solidarity With The People Of Iran. She talked to RFE/RL's Radio Farda correspondent Nader Sadighi.

RFE/RL: How did you come up with the idea of making a sculpture in Neda's honor?

Paula Slater: Well, you know, I saw the videotape of the shooting of Neda and it just touched me so deeply. It was like a shot to the heart.

And what I do when I'm feeling a lot of pain is sculpt, and I thought I just need to sculpt her. I need to turn this pain that I'm feeling into art and I just wanted to sculpt her portrait and to show my solidarity with the people in Iran.

RFE/RL: It seems that her unfortunate death has affected you deeply, hasn't it?

Slater: Yes it did. I think that it was such a graphic and violent videotape.

And I was already aware of what was going on in Iran. I was once employed a couple of decades ago by an Iranian friend who had come from Iran with his family. And they just took me in and they're just the most wonderful people. So I've always been involved with what's going on in Iran.

RFE/RL: Paula, you are an artist, and your thoughts are far from political, but what do you expect to happen in Iran?

Slater: Very good question -- I think these things take time. I think that good people sometimes get represented by bad governments. And I think that the Iranian people are really wanting that to change.

So I'm hopeful for the future and am optimistic about what will happen in Iran. I think that these things take time to build. But once it builds, the momentum carries it. And I think that there is such a strong direction that they want to take. I think that they will end up getting what they want."

The wife of prominent reformist figure and journalist Saeed Hajjarian, who was arrested during the postelection crackdown, has said after seeing her husband in jail that his health situation is critical.

Hajjarian is known as the brains or the strategist of Iran's reform movement.

Hajjarian's wife said that her husband, who was paralyzed after he was shot in the head in 2000 during a failed assassination attempt, looked very pale and frail and that his complexion has turned yellow.

She said her husband cried during the meeting, which took place in the presence of several security officers. She said that Hajjarian was sitting in front of a camera and couldn't speak freely about his situation.

Hajjarian's wife was quoted by a reformist website as saying that his body odor was very bad. She added that Hajjarian said he had been held in the sun for a long time. Temperatures in Tehran are currently between 35 to 38 degrees Celsius.

The comments have added to the concern over the health of the 55-year-old Hajjarian, who was arrested on June 15.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has said that Hajjarian's life is in danger due to the torture and pressure he's been subjected to in detention. The rights group has called on the Iranian authorities to release Hajjarian immediately and stop torturing him.

Hajjarian was reportedly hospitalized at least once during his detention. He is confined to a wheelchair and has difficulty speaking. He needs constant medical care and special medication and physiotherapy.

U.S. linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Farda on July 24 about the postelection unrest in Iran. A couple of choice quotes:

The mother of Neda Agha Soltan, a young Iranian woman slain during a June 20 protest in Tehran, has broken her silence to accuse Iran's Intelligence Ministry of ordering mosques not to hold mourning ceremonies for those killed in the postelection crackdown.

Neda's mother reportedly made the comments during a July 22 meeting with families of other victims of the crackdown and women's rights activists.

The report says officials from Tehran's Behesht Zahra Cemetery showed her a letter sent out to mosques by the ministry in which it forbids them from hosting such ceremonies.

Neda's mother said people with no direct relation to Neda have faced pressure from security forces while visiting her grave.

She said the family had decided not to have public ceremonies to avoid creating problems for others.

Neda's family and relatives are due to visit her grave on July 30, which marks the 40th day since her death. Others are expected to join them in a sign of support and respect.

The video of the young lady bleeding to death after being shot in the chest was quickly posted on youtube, and she became a potent symbol of Iran's green movement and of Iranian authorities' brutal tactics to quell dissent.

-- Golnaz Esfandiari

Iranian news websites are reporting that Mohsen Rouholamini, the son of one of former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai's senior campaign adviser, has died at Tehran's Evin prison. The family was informed of his death by prison officials two days ago, the reports suggest.

RFE/RL couldn't independently confirm the reports.

Officials were said to have told the family that Rouholamini would be released in the near future, and the circumstances of his reported death are unclear.

Rouholamini was among those arrested during a July 9 protest in Tehran, reports said.

The Mowjcamp website reports that his father, Abdol Hossein Rouholamini, became the head of Iran's Pasteur Institute following President Mahmud  Ahmadinejad's election in 2005.

Photojournalist Ali Zare talks to Reporters Without Borders about his detention in Iran.

An Iranian reformist website says the father of a young man killed during postelection unrest has been detained by security forces.

Norooznews.ir reports that several plainclothes agents went to the Tehran home of the late Masud Hashemzadeh, removed all signs of mourning -- including black cloth and condolences messages from neighbors -- and detained Hashemzadeh's father.

Twenty-seven-year-old Masud Hashemzadeh was shot dead during a June 20 demonstration in Tehran over the results of the June 12 vote.

Hashemzadeh’s brother, Milad Hashemzadeh, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that his brother died of a gunshot wound to the heart. He said authorities had banned the family from holding a mourning ceremony for him.

Hashemzadeh's brother said that he had been briefly detained and questioned over the burial plans for his bother in Rasht in northern Iran.

He said his family has been in deep pain and suffering since his brother's death.

Hashemzadeh's mother said in an interview with the website of a group called the Mourning Mothers of Iran that authorities had pressured the family not to cry aloud at his grave. She said she had remained silent because of the pressure and the detention of her younger son but she finally decided to break her silence and talk about the death of her son.

She said her son had been very upset following the announcement of the result of the election. She expressed the hope that the blood of Iran's young generation would not be spilled and trampled and that such a tragedy would have a result.

-- Golnaz Esfandiari