It is understandable that Iran has banned Battlefield 3 in Iran - given the fact that it contains a mission where the American forces storm Tehran - but it is less understandable that EA is actually happy about it.
"In that Battlefield 3 is not available for purchase in Iran, we can only hope the ban will help prevent pirated copies reaching consumers there," were the words of an EA representative.
To understand the representative's comment you need to know that pirated games are sold openly in Iranian stores. Of course Iranian gamers also have access to that fangled internet thingy with all its peer to peer glory, but let us hope they honor the ban and refrain from downloading the game.
To put the banning decision in context, it should be noted that it was made following an online petition that collected more than 5,000 signatures asking for it. "We understand that the story of a videogame is hypothetical ... (but) we believe the game is purposely released at a time when the US is pushing the international community into fearing Iran," the online petition reads in part.
