Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, faced an unprecedented outburst of public opposition today from student demonstrators who burned his picture and chanted "death to the dictator".
In the first sign of open dissent since he took office last year, dozens of activists shouted abuse and set off firecrackers as Mr Ahmadinejad addressed students at Tehran's Amir Kabir university. They were voicing anger at what they say is an increasing repressiveness on Iran's campuses under his government. A presidential aide said 50 to 60 students took part in the protest.
The heckling prompted scuffles between the protesters and the president's supporters, who chanted: "Ahmadi, Ahmadi, we support you."
Mr Ahmadinejad, who was marking Iranian students' day, answered the "dictator" taunts by saying: "Everyone knows the real dictator is America and its servants." He added: "A few who claim there is a stifling climate are trying to stifle the majority by not letting them hear what is being said."
As students set fire to his picture, he said: "Everyone should know that Ahmadinejad is prepared to be burned in the path of true freedom, independence and justice."
Mr Ahmadinejad - who has turned his appearances before mass audiences into a potent political tool - has insisted that the protesters should not be punished, Reuters reported, citing a presidential spokesman.
The outburst came as Iranians prepare to go to the polls on Friday for elections to local councils and the powerful assembly of experts. It will be Mr Ahmadinejad's first electoral test since taking office and comes as his government is under pressure over rising prices and a perceived failure to deliver on economic promises.
The protest was also the latest in a series of recent signs of unrest on Iran's campuses, which had been largely quiet since the brutal suppression of a wave of pro-democracy demonstrations under Mr Ahmadinejad's reformist predecessor, Mohammed Khatami.
On Sunday, an estimated 700 Amir Kabir university students protested against a clampdown that has included the closure of the Islamic students' committee and the exclusion of former activists from courses. They were also demonstrating against the demolition of the students' committee building and the imposition of the university chancellor without elections.
Police restricted access to the campus as demonstrators shouted anti-government slogans. Last week, hundreds of students at Tehran university were confronted by police as they chanted: "We only want freedom of expression." Vahid Abedini, a member of the university's democracy seekers' committee, told the pro-reformist Etemad newspaper that the gatherings had been organised to defend the independence of universities.
Hundreds of students with a record of political activism have been barred from academic courses while many lecturers have been forced to retire.
This year, Mr Ahmadinejad demanded a purge of "secular and liberal" lecturers, whom he accused of having been a fifth column for western values and colonialism for 150 years. Under his presidency, a hardline cleric was appointed chancellor of Tehran university for the first time.
The remains of "martyrs" from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war have been given burial ceremonies in several universities in what has been seen as a pretext for allowing pro-government vigilantes entry to keep watch on student activities.