Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Iran to demonstrate against the country's president, mullahs and price rises for the second day.

Videos show crowds chanting 'Death to the dictator' and 'Death to Rouhani' across the Islamic republic - including Iran's holy second city, Mashhad - as the protests spread to at least eight other cities.

State media said 52 people have been arrested, with footage recorded by protesters yesterday showing tear gas being thrown into crowds by riot police.

In one clip, a mullah - an Islamic cleric and representative of the feared religious class which runs theocratic Iran - is chanted at aggressively as he walks through a group of protesters.

State media said 52 people have been arrested, with footage recorded by protesters yesterday showing tear gas being thrown into crowds by riot police

The protests have spread across the country, including to Yazd, Birjand, Kashmar and Shahroud

Videos show crowds chanting 'Death to the dictator' and 'Death to Rouhani' in cities across the Islamic republic - including Iran's holy second city, Mashhad - as the protests spread to at least eight cities

Protesters have been sprayed with water cannon by police as the demonstrations spread across the country

In one clip, a mullah - an Islamic cleric and representative of the feared religious class which runs theocratic Iran - is chanted at aggressively as he walks through a group of protesters

Political protests are rare in Iran - but demonstrations are often held by workers over layoffs or non-payment of salaries and people who hold deposits in non-regulated bankrupt financial institutions

They shout: 'Mullahs, be ashamed - and leave Iran'.

Another video appears to show police kicking protesters.

Some also chanted: 'Not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran' - a reference to anger at the government's repeated interventions abroad.

One activist reported on social media that crowds also shouted: 'Leave Palestine and think about us'.

Political protests are rare in Iran - but demonstrations are often held by workers over layoffs or non-payment of salaries and people who hold deposits in non-regulated bankrupt financial institutions.

Political protests of national significance took place most recently in 2009 when Mahmoud Amadinejad's re-election as president ignited an eight-month firestorm of street demonstrations. His pro-reform rivals said the vote was rigged.

Prominent conservative cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda was quoted as saying: 'If the security and law enforcement agencies leave the rioters to themselves, enemies will publish films and pictures in their media and say that the Islamic Republic system has lost its revolutionary base in Mashhad,' .

Alamolhoda, the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in northeastern Mashhad, said a few people had taken advantage of yesterday's protests against rising prices to raise slogans against Iran's involvement in regional conflicts.

'Some people had came to express their demands, but suddenly, in a crowd of hundreds, a small group that did not exceed 50, shouted deviant and horrendous slogans such as "Let go of Palestine", "Not Gaza, not Lebanon, I'd give my life for Iran",' Alamolhoda said.

Videos on social media also showed demonstrators chanting 'Leave Syria, think about us', criticising Iran's military and financial support for President Bashar al-Assad, who is fighting opponents of the government in Syria's six-year-old civil war.

Videos on social media also showed demonstrators chanting 'Leave Syria, think about us', criticising Iran's military and financial support for President Bashar al-Assad, who is fighting opponents of the government in Syria's six-year-old civil war

The prices of several staples, including eggs, have risen by up to 40 per cent in recent days, with farmers blaming the hikes on higher prices for imported feed. Pictured: Protesters in Iran yesterday

Political protests of national significance took place most recently in 2009 when Mahmoud Amadinejad's re-election as president ignited an eight-month firestorm of street demonstrations. His pro-reform rivals said the vote was rigged

Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, a close ally of President Rouhani, suggested that hardline opponents of the president may have started the protests.

'When a social and political movement is launched on the streets, those who started it will not necessarily be able to control it in the end,' IRNA quoted Jahangiri as saying.

'Those who are behind such events will burn their own fingers. They think they will hurt the government by doing so.'

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted the governor of the northeastern city of Mashhad, Mohammad Rahim Norouzian, as saying there was an illegal 'No to high prices' gathering in the city.

'Police gave them the necessary notifications and treated them with great tolerance,' he said.

Norouzian said police arrested a number of people who intended to destroy public property, without elaborating.

The prices of several staples, including eggs, have risen by up to 40 per cent in recent days, with farmers blaming the hikes on higher prices for imported feed.

Poultry is an important part of the diet of many of Iran's 80 million people, and previous price increases have caused political problems for its leaders in the years since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Inflation has returned to 10 per cent, Iran's central bank says. Youth unemployment also remains high.

As well as Mashhad, there were smaller protests in Yazd in southern Iran, Shahroud in the north and Kashmar in the northeast.

Tempers rose after Rouhani submitted his 2018 budget to parliament, which raises departure taxes for those flying out of the country.

Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, a close ally of President Rouhani (pictured), suggested that hardline opponents of the president may have started the protests

Tehran-based analyst Saeed Leilaz said that Rouhani's political rivals may have played a role in organising the protests, saying 'the hands of political groups could be seen in today's gathering in Mashhad.'

But he said the administration still faces a major challenge.

'There are more than 3 million jobless in Iran, and more than 35 percent of Iranians are under the poverty line. These are Rouhani's problems, and could kill any government. I won't be shocked if inflation hits 12 per cent.'

All this comes as the US Congress weighs President Donald Trump's refusal to re-certify the nuclear deal.

Many Iranians now say they agree with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's repeated warnings the US can't be trusted.

Khamenei has also kept up his criticism of how Rouhani's administration has handled the economy, which includes the supreme leader's opposition to allowing foreign firms to fully enter Iran.

The Revolutionary Guard, a hard-line paramilitary organization, has vast economic interests in the country.

But the Guard did not mobilise its Basij volunteer forces to counter any of the protests yesterday.

However, some protests included attacks on Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's civil war, in which the Guard has played a major role.

Shahin Gobadi, a spokesman for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran - which considers itself a government in exile - said he believes the protests show a 'desire for regime change'.

He added: 'One has to keep in mind that the people have been on the streets in large numbers across Iran for two days despite huge risks and the regime’s total mobilisation of its oppressive forces.'