Iran arrests Italian reporter Cecilia Sala, Italy says

An Italian journalist has been detained in Iran for more than a week, Italy’s foreign ministry said.

Cecilia Sala works for Il Foglio newspaper and Chora Media podcast company.

The Foreign Ministry said it had been following Ms Sala’s case “with great interest” since her arrest by Tehran police on December 19.

There was no immediate confirmation of the arrests of Iranian officials.

Chora Media reported in a statement that Ms Sala is being held in Evin prison in Tehran and there is no reason for her arrest.

The Italian Foreign Ministry revealed that Rome’s ambassador to Tehran, Paola Amadei, visited him to see how he was detained, adding that he was allowed to make two phone calls to his family.

It added that Italy “has been working with the Iranian authorities to explain Cecilia Sala”.

According to Chora Media, Ms Sala left Rome for Iran on December 12 with a valid journalist’s visa and did several interviews, making three episodes of the “News” podcast.

He added that he was supposed to fly back to Rome on December 20, but his phone went “silent” after exchanging several messages on December 19.

Sala’s boss, Il Foglio, told him: “Writing a new year is always a long time coming.”

“Cecilia was in Iran, with a permanent visa, to tell about the country she knows and loves, a country where knowledge is being lost due to repression,” the newspaper said in a statement on its website.

Last week, Iran summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran and the Italian ambassador over the arrest of two Iranians, Reuters reported, citing Iranian media.

Iran was rocked by protests in 2022 after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September of that year. Thousands of people were arrested for the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

Mahsa had been arrested for violating Iran’s law requiring women to wear the hijab and died in police custody.