Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

Haunting images of children killed in a horrific building collapse in Iran have emerged amid violent protests against the government.

Thirty-four people died when the 10-storey building of flats and shops collapsed in Abadan, south-western Iran on 23rd May.

Officials blamed the tragedy on local corruption and poor building standards.

But many Iranian citizens instead blamed the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and government negligence.

Cries of “death to Khamenei” could be heard in footage believed to be from a protest in the Nazi Abad district of the capital Tehran.

And demonstrators in the city of Bushehr on the south coast were also reportedly heard chanting “death to the dictator”.

Ali Khamenei is only the second Supreme Leader in Iran’s history.

He has been in office since 1989. All criticism of him is usually dealt with harshly in the Islamic Republic.

Police have clashed with protesters and have used Mace spray and warning gunshots to clear crowds throughout week-long demonstrations.

The deceased children pictured in the photos were identified by Masoud Hamidinejad, head of the General Department of Education in Khuzestan, as three schoolchildren from Khorramshahr and two schoolchildren from Abadan.

Their lifeless bodies were pulled from the rubble of the building.

They were named in reports as Melika and Mitra Salehianpour, Masih Sadeghi, and Arian and Hamidreza Jalilian.