Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has appealed to the country's religious leaders to embrace 3G internet after a prominent cleric used his website to denounce the technology. Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi warned that rolling out 3G access in Iran would allow citizens to access "negative features," "immoral photos," as well as "spying." 3G networks began to spread rapidly with the rise of the smartphone in 2007.