Several aides to former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami have gone on trial in Tehran on charges of masterminding the post-election unrest and plotting a 'soft coup' in the Islamic republic.
Among the some 20 people in the dock in the revolutionary court are a former minister and a number of other top political figures as well as reformist journalists and academics.
The prosecution has charged that some political groups 'with the cooperation of Western media and colonial embassies disrupted the situation and misused the supporters of defeated candidates.'
Iran has already staged mass trials of around 140 people on offences linked to the massive demonstrations and street violence that followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hotly-disputed victory in June.
The court proceedings, which are open only to Iranian news agencies and which opposition leaders denounced as 'show trials,' have angered the international community and heightened political tensions as Iran battles its worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The prosecution has called for the dissolution of reformist movements such as the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organisation after accusing them of 'lying and spreading rumours of fraud' in the election.
Iranian news agencies said those in the dock include Khatami aides such as former deputy interior minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh, ex-deputy economy minister Mohsen Safaie-Farahani and reformist activists Mohsen Mirdamadi and Abdollah Ramezanzadeh.
Behzad Nabavi, a top reformist thinker and former minister in the post-revolution government of Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh are also on trial.
Former president Mohammad Khatami, who was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005, is a strong supporter of opposition groups who have rejected Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.
At previous hearings in revolutionary courts, the defendants have included reformists, political activists, a young French woman lecturer and two employees of the French and British embassies.
Mr Ahmadinejad's re-election triggered massive street protests in Tehran by Mousavi supporters.
Iranian officials say at least 30 people were killed in clashes with security forces, but the opposition puts the death toll at 69.
About 4,000 people were initially detained over the protests and hundreds are still behind bars, amid opposition allegations that some have been killed, raped and abused in custody.
The trials have intensified the political turmoil gripping Iran as Ahmadinejad awaits a vote of confidence in parliament for his 21-member cabinet.
