Thousands of Iranians chanted "Death to America" at Washington"s former embassy in Tehran today, 40 years after Islamists stormed the building and held 52 Americans hostage.

State television showed crowds packing the streets around the former mission, dubbed the "den of spies" after Iran"s 1979 Islamic revolution.

Young and old burned American and British flags in grim echoes of the hostage crisis which forever tarnished Washington"s relationship with Tehran.

Marches and rallies were being held in some 1,000 communities across the country.