Iran has become the first country to officially ban Pokemon Go, with authorities citing “security concerns” as the reason for their decision.

The Iranian High Council of Virtual Spaces, an official body overseeing online activity that was set up in 2012, has forbidden the use of the popular ‘augmented reality’ smartphone game, according to the BBC.

Pokemon Go is available in more than 35 countries, and some players in Iran say they have been able to access the game despite restrictions on internet usage for Iranian citizens.

There have been reports of people in Iran discussing the game, in which cute fictional characters can be caught in everyday locations, on social media.

“It's quite difficult to be in the streets and be focused on both hunting Pokémon and on the lookout that the gasht ershad [Iranian morality police] don't hunt me. Life has become hard :),” jokingly wrote a Twitter user in Tehran called Narges, according to a translation by anti-censorship blog Advox Globalvoices.

Pokemon Go’s dramatic rise to popularity after it was first released last month has caused a spike in security fears after a number of reported phone robberies were linked to the game.

On 22 July, an 18-year-old in Guatemala was shot dead while he was out catching Pokemon with his cousin.

And in Stockholm, emergency services were reportedly called to rescue a man who impaled his thigh on a metal fence in the city’s Olympic Stadium while trying to catch a Pokemon.

Iranian authorities reportedly said earlier this month the game’s status in Iran would depend on the level of co-operation afforded by the game’s creators, according to the Mehr News Agency, which is run by the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization.

The High Council of Virtual Spaces was created by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s current Supreme Leader.

A decree set out the Council’s aim to prevent Iran from perceived harm from “the increasing spread of information and communication technologies, particularly that of the global internet network and its important role in personal and social life,” the BBC reported at the time.

Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran Show all 11 1 /11 Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran Wall of skateboards in the Grand Bazaar of Tehran Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran Tehran, the most progressive city in Iran, is home to the country's largest community of skateboarders. They number about 500. The Alborz Mountains overlook the north of the capital. Skateboarders like to meet over there to go down from mount Toshâl to city center skatepark. In Tehran’s heavy traffic, this horde of skateboarders is in the middle of a very dangerous journey Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran Documenting themselves with Go-Pro cameras, the crew of skateboarders rides through the city, past the wide-eyed gazes of passers-by. The footage will be posted on Instagram, a popular social network among young Iranians. Unlike Facebook, Instagram is not blocked by the Iranian government Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran In Southern Tehran, Ashkan kickflips in front of a mural depicting the ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran In recent years, groups of skateboarders appeared in all of Iran's major cities. Iranian cities, where modern and traditional architecture intermingle, are their playgrounds. Unlike Tehran, there is no skate park in Isfahan. Young skaters must settle for the street Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran In front of a mosque in Isfahan, around 211 miles south from Tehran, Erfan is towed by a carriage usually meant for tourists Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran Persian rugs are traditionally used for sitting to eat, drink tea or rest. While waiting for friends from Ispahan to joint them, the skateboarders from Tehran improvise a game with a board without wheels Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran The Grand Bazaar in Tehran is usually filled with people, but Friday is the weekly day of rest in Iran. Amid ghostly decor skateboarders lose themselves in the many narrow alleys of the labyrinthine market Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran In Tehran, Erfan, 24, rides hurtles past the portraits of Khamenei (left), the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989, and his predecessor Khomeini (far right) Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran In Kerman, located in southeastern Iran, girls take ownership of skateboarding, too. Wearing mandatory veils and long sleeves, here are three that train regularly with boys Mathias Zwick Mathias Zwick: Skateboarders of Iran Although skateboarding is one of the few sports where genders intermingle, girls do not have the same opportunities than boys. Mandatory veils and long sleeves make practicing skateboard harder under the intense heat of a summer in Shiraz, said Ehlam, 21 years old, skater girl, electric guitar player and also breakdancer Mathias Zwick

In New York, Governor Gov Cuomo has banned sex offenders from playing the game, which is popular with teenagers and young people.

He has urged Niantic, the American software developer behind the game, to assist him with the ban’s enforcement.

The Israeli army has been banned from playing Pokemon Go because of the location services and cameras needed to run it – stoking fears players could unwittingly expose military secrets.