Tehran // Iran was quick to ban global gaming craze Pokemon Go, but as with many of the Islamic republic’s internet controls, tech-savvy youths have carried on regardless.
In the ornate grounds of Mellat Park in Tehran, a teenage boy, buried in his phone, stopped suddenly in front of a man sitting on a bench with his wife and young daughter – both covered from head to toe in traditional black robes.
The family stopped their conversation and stared at the boy, who appeared to be pointing his phone at them. Then the boy moved on, completely oblivious – his mind in the virtual world of Pokemon.
Iran, which blocks many global news and social media sites including Facebook and Twitter, banned Pokemon Go just a few days after it was released early last month. It cited national security concerns because the wildly popular game leads users to real-life locations via GPS maps on their mobile phones.
The deputy attorney general Abdulsamad Khoram Abadi said Pokemon Go had been banned unanimously by Iran’s high council for cyberspace.
“Because this game is a mixture of virtual and physical games, it can pose lots of problems for the country and people in terms of security,” he told the Tasnim news agency on Friday.
“These games can become a means for directing guided missiles and even cause disruptions to ambulances and fire trucks,” said Alireza Al Davoud, an analyst with hardliner links. He told Tasnim he feared the US developers of the game were using it to spy on Iran.
But the ban has done little to stop determined gamers hunting down Pokemon creatures.
Iran’s youthful and highly connected population is used to bypassing internet censorship on a daily basis, using virtual private networks (VPNs) that mask the location of their phones and computers.
Most phone shops sell pay-as-you-go VPN cards featuring the logos of banned sites such as Facebook and YouTube.
The authorities rarely crack down on this behaviour, preferring to discourage access to foreign sites, rather than rigidly enforce censorship.
The bigger problem for Pokemon Go fans in Iran is the lack of “Pokestops” and “Gyms” to discover.
Mellat Park is a relative hotspot, with one Pokestop and two Gyms. On a recent evening, it had attracted about 30 gamers, mostly in their teens and 20s.
“It just shows how little data there is about Iran on the internet,” said 15-year-old Shayan, complaining about the lack of features in Tehran.
Pokemon Go automatically assigns creatures and play areas based on existing map data, which is fairly limited in the Iranian capital.
Some people have travelled from the town of Karaj, 30 kilometres west of Tehran, to play here, Shayan said.
The city’s notorious traffic is another annoyance.
“Last night, there were seven of us stuck in traffic for an hour trying to go and capture three Gyms,” said Hossein, 26, laughing.
Although gatherings of young men and women are frowned upon by Iran’s conservative authorities, the meet-up in Mellat Park drew little attention since everyone was glued to their phones.
One family figured out what was happening and stopped to ask the youths how the game worked.
“Look how cool it is,” said Shireen, who was with her husband and four-year-old son.
“I really like it because you have to move. I will let my son play it, but only after he’s 15,” she laughed.
As everywhere, the game is popular in Iran because it drags gamers off their sofas and into the real world.
“After a day of work, I would have never come outside if it wasn’t for this game,” said Siavash, who said he lost four kilos in the first two weeks after it came out.
* Agence France-Presse
