The photo – posted to Ronaldo’s 621 million followers on Instagram – was quickly picked up by news outlets around the world, including the Hamshahri newspaper.

However, rather than printing the original, the Tehran publication blatantly edited the snap so that Rodriguez’s rounded buttocks is nowhere to be seen.

BEFORE: Georgina Rodriguez, who is in a relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo, was pictured in a family photo (pictured) to celebrate the football superstar’s 39th birthday last week

AFTER: The photo – posted to Ronaldo’s 621 million followers on Instagram – was quickly picked up by news outlets around the world, including the Hamshahri newspaper. However, rather than printing the original image, the Tehran publication blatantly edited the snap so that Rodriguez’s rounded buttocks is nowhere to be seen

It appears Hamshahri attempted a rough Photoshop job in which Spaniard’s bum looks to have been flattened from her waist to her lower thigh.

Speaking to The Sun, a source said Rodriguez would be ‘very upset’ with the publication’s digital alteration of the photo taken last week.

‘She works hard for her body and is very proud of her curves,’ they said. ‘It just shows the view of women in some parts of the world is twisted. It’s only a bottom.’

Rodriguez, who boasts 57 million followers of her own on Instagram, has in the past regularly shown off her curvaceous figure.

However, after Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabian football team Al Nassr, she has taken a more conservative approach when posting to social media in accordance with the Muslim country’s stricter dress codes.

Like Saudi Arabia, Iran also has strict laws governing what women can and cannot wear dictated by the regime in Tehran.

Women in the country have to wear a veil and loose-fitting clothes which cover everything but their hands and face.

If they fall foul of these rules, women can face up to 10 years in prison.

These draconian laws translate to how women are pictured in the media, and it appears the rules meant the regime couldn’t stand for Rodriguez’s curves being printed in the major national newspaper.

The manipulation of the photo was spotted by a number of people on social media.

British-Iranian actor Omid Djalili, an outspoken critic of the Tehran regime, said: ‘Displaying such little respect for women by publicly disfiguring them says so much.’

Belgium MP Darya Safai wrote: ‘This is exactly how sick Islamists look at women.’

So far, it appears the Rodriguez is yet to comment on the photo, which was posted on February 6.

Along with the picture, Ronaldo wrote: ‘Grateful to spend my 39th birthday the best way possible: with my family and back on the training pitch.

Another picture showed Ronaldo with a large bouquet of flowers that he had received

Ronaldo had another reason to celebrate as he returned to the training field on his birthday after recovering from a calf injury

‘Thank you all for the warm messages.’

As well as Rodriguez and Ronaldo Jr, the photo also featured three of Ronaldo’s younger children – two of which appeared to be eyeing up the birthday cakes sat on a glass table in the foreground of the snap.

Ronaldo also showed off a large bouquet of flowers he was given.

His birthday came as the superstar marked the occasion with a return to training after recovering from a calf injury.