Iran has unveiled its latest innovation in criminal punishment – a machine that cuts off the fingers of thieves, The Telegraph reported.

Photographs appearing to show a blindfolded man having his fingers severed by the mechanical amputation device have been published by an official Iranian press agency.

According to the INSA news service, the prisoner used to demonstrate the brutal contraption had been convicted of theft and adultery by a court in Shiraz.

A series of pictures show three masked officials, clad entirely in black, holding the man's right hand in a vice while one turns a wheel operating the guillotine in the manner of a rotary saw.

Following the public amputation, Ali Alghasi, the Shiraz district's public prosecutor, announced sentences against criminals are to become increasingly severe.

This warning, issued without explanation, may be an attempt by authorities to deter public protest ahead of June's general elections.