TEHRAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Iranians converged on the former U.S. embassy in Tehran Thursday for a rally to mark the anniversary of its 1979 takeover by militant Iranian students.

The crowd chanted ``Death to America'' and ``Death to Israel,'' a familiar cry in the streets of Tehran for the past two decades.

High school students, bussed in from various parts of Tehran, waved photos of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who Wednesday denounced those who sought reconciliation with the ``Great Satan,'' the United States.

The former chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohsen Reza'ie, was scheduled to address the crowd.

An unofficial demonstration was held Wednesday at Tehran University by leftist students who said they would refrain from burning the American flag, a common ritual in most such rallies since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

The students' umbrella organization, the Office to Consolidate Unity, grew out of the U.S. embassy takeover.

The 52 U.S. hostages captured by students in 1979 were freed after 444 days in captivity. Many of the students have since softened their rhetoric and now back moderate President Mohammad Khatami. Washington severed diplomatic ties with Tehran in April 1980.

Tensions between the two countries have eased somewhat since Khatami came to power in 1997. However, Iran has repeatedly rebuffed U.S. offers for official talks.