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Tehran - Tens of thousands of Iranians chanted "Death to the dictator" on Friday as hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the keynote address to an annual mass rally of solidarity with the Palestinians.

The opposition supporters defied a heavy security presence and dire warnings from regime officials about the consequences of any effort to try to hijack the Quds (Jerusalem) Day event to mount the protest, the first against Ahmadinejad's hotly disputed June re-election in two months.

Chanting slogans in support of the hardliner's main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, the protesters gathered in several places in the city centre for the traditional march to Tehran University where the speeches were delivered, witnesses said.