Tehran: Tens of thousands of Iranian clerics have attended state-sponsored rallies across the country in support the Iran's supreme leader.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds final say in all state matters, has become a focus of opposition protests.
Hardliners were angered after students on Monday burned photos of Khamenei and called him an "oppressor," taboo-shattering actions rarely seen in Iran.
Some also burned images of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-allied shah.
State TV aired footage of the pictures being burned, stoking outrage among hard-liners.
Saturday's protests by clerics come after a day of pro-government rallies, also in response to the images.
Pro-government female Iranian students chant slogans as they hold posters of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in Tehran on December 7, 2009.
Image Credit: AP
