Iran has banned Pokemon Go

Iran appears not to be a huge fan of Pokemon Go as they went all the way to ban the game, becoming the only country in the world to do so. The ban comes over unspecified ‘security concerns’.

Since its launch, Pokemon Go has raised several countries, most prominently the UAE and Kuwait, have questioned its security implications. France recently arrested a player after he drifted close to a military base while playing Pokemon Go. Indonesia has banned its police officers from playing the game while on duty. While a Saudi Council went so far as to say that Pokemon Go is forbidden in Islam. But no country has taken the drastic step like Iran.

The country’s High Council of Virtual Spaces hasn’t commented more on what led to the decision to entirely ban the game except that it raised ‘security concerns’. However, before taking this measure Iran wanted to see what cooperation they could get from Niantic, the company which developed Pokemon Go.

Pokemon Go is a location-based game which means players would be headed to various places to collect Pokemons. The main concern is of players wandering off to military bases and other sensitive areas. Furthermore, the game could also encourage large scale gatherings which could morph into crowd protest.

While the players may have had innocent ambitions behind playing the game, Iran has ended their short-lived era of fun.