The funeral of Ayatollah Montazeri Dec. 21 saw hundreds of thousands of mourners take to the streets in Qom, despite harassment and attacks from the Basij militia. Some 2,000 government supporters also attacked Montazeri's commemoration ceremony at Azam Mosque. To avoid any harm coming to mourners, the family has cancelled the customary third day commemoration events. Afterwards, Basij forces in plainclothes swarmed Montazeri's residence, breaking windows and tearing his pictures and the black mourning banners that had been placed there. They also attacked the nearby home of Montazeri's son. Pro-government forces have pledged to mobilize a counter-demonstration against the mourners in Qom.

Iran's government charged Dec. 9 that a newly built United Nations station to detect nuclear detonations near its border was established to allow world powers to spy on the country. Construction was completed last week on the seismic monitoring station in neighboring Turkmenistan, a few miles from the Iranian border. It is one of about 275 such facilities operating around the world to detect seismic activity set off by nuclear tests. Abolfazl Zohrehvand, an adviser to Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, said the international treaty that allows for setting up such observatories is an "espionage treaty."

Iranian human rights violations following the disputed presidential election in June were among the worst in the past 20 years, according to a report published Dec. 12 by Amnesty International. The report, "Iran: Election contested, repression compounded," contains testimony from individuals detained during the protests that ensued after the election. According to AI, individuals were unlawfully detained, beaten, tortured, and raped, resulting in numerous deaths in detention.

Protests greeted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Brazil at the start of a South American tour Nov. 23. On Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema beach, thousands of demonstrators from groups representing gays, artists, Christians, Jews, and Holocaust survivors carried protest banners and a giant cage containing white balloons as a symbol of Iran's "repressed values." Large protests were also held in Sao Paulo. Opposition politicians also criticized the visit. "One thing is a diplomatic relationship with dictatorships, another is to welcome their leaders in your home," Jose Serra, the Sao Paulo state governor, wrote in a newspaper opinion.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Court has sentenced former vice president and reformer Mohammad Ali Abtahi to six years in prison for his role in the unrest that followed the disputed June 12 presidential elections, according to Iranian news agencies Nov. 21. Abtahi, who had been in custody since just after the election, has been temporarily released on $700,000 bail pursuant to Iranian law which allows any person sentenced to more than three months in jail to be released on bail pending appeal. He served as vice president under Mohammad Khatami from 1997 to 2005. Abtahi has 20 days to appeal his sentence.

Iran's judicial authorities plan to investigate the death of a young doctor who had testified before parliament about prisoner abuses in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election. Dissident websites said that Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani, 26, was killed in order to silence him, as he was the only independent witness to be able to corroborate the charges of torture.

The US government on Nov. 12 amended a complaint against Islamic charity the Alavi Foundation to include a request for the seizure of assets, including four mosques, claiming that the organization is actually controlled by the Iranian government. The amended complaint, originally filed in 2008, alleges that Alavi is funneling assets to fund Iran's nuclear program in violation of US law. The government had already sought to seize Alavi's 40% interest in a New York office building, but the amended complaint adds properties in Maryland, Texas, California, New York, each of which contains an Islamic center or mosque; 100 acres of land in Virginia; and nine US bank accounts.

Iranian authorities hanged Kurdish activist Ehsan Fattahian, 28, on Nov. 11 in Sanandaj Central Prison, Kordestan province. He was accused of "armed struggle against the regime" and "enmity against God." An Internet campaign had gathered over 10,000 signatures in recent days calling on Tehran to stop the execution. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and several Iranian human rights organizations issued statements calling to halt the execution. Despite reportedly being tortured, Ehsan refused to admit to participating in armed activities. It was only during the appeals process was he declared as an "enemy of God" and sentenced to execution.