Iranian cleric Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi made international news last week when he ruled that 3G phones and high speed Internet on mobile devices should not be allowed until the proper tools are created to prevent corruption. On Aug. 31, he tried to clarify that he was not against technology, but that Western technology was like “muddy water” that needs to be “filtered.”

The official website of Makarem Shirazi responded Aug. 25 to a question by a group of “cyber activists” that in consideration of possible corruption and the lack of filtering tools, “3G mobile communication services and higher are against Sharia and moral and human norms.”

During a meeting with parliament speaker Ali Larijani, Shirazi attempted to clarify, “On the issue of 3G … some members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace [SCC] came to me and explained it to me. I sensed a real danger could be created, and I gave a warning. Unfortunately, some with ill intentions distorted my comments.”

He said, “Some shouldn’t imagine that we are against the use of this technology, but the technology of the West is like unsanitary and muddy water. Water is the source of life but when it becomes unsanitary or muddy, it must be filtered.”