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Iran's press watchdog has suspended a newspaper after it published a front-page graphic of the line purportedly being drawn by the hand of

The suspension of the Kelid paper was "in accordance with the media law" watchdog head Alaedin Zohourian said, according to state news agency IRNA on Monday.

The graphic, which showed a hand with the distinctive ring of , was used to illustrate an article with the headline "Millions of Iranians Below Poverty Line".

Khamenei has a political and religious status which makes him effectively untouchable in Iran.

A brave Iranian newspaper published a front page article “Millions of Iranians Living under Poverty Line.” It showed diabolical “supreme leader” Khamenei drawing the poverty line. So what did the terror regime do? It immediately shut down the newspaper.

— Avi Kaner ابراهيم אבי (@AviKaner)

Iran, with a population of 83 million people, is facing an economic crisis after international sanctions.

There were high hopes for economic relief after Iran's 2015 pledge not to build or acquire nuclear weapons - a goal it has always denied pursuing.

But those hopes were dashed in 2018 when and launched or reimposed crippling sanctions as part of a sweeping "maximum pressure" campaign.

On top of that, when the pandemic struck, Iran became the region's worst-hit country.