Iran confirms arrest of Italian journalist

Iranian authorities have confirmed for the first time that Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested in the country for “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic”.

This comes as a US State Department spokesperson told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Ms Sala’s case may be related to the recent arrest of an Iranian national in Milan at the request of the United States.

Ms Sala, a 29-year-old journalist and well-known foreign news anchor, was arrested in Iran on December 19, the day she was due to fly home from a reporting trip.

He is now reportedly being held in Tehran’s Evin prison.

On December 16, an Iranian citizen, Mohammad Abedini, was arrested in Milan on charges of supplying electronic weapons to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), which led to the death of three American soldiers. The US currently wants Abedini to leave Italy.

A US State Department spokesman quoted by La Repubblica said Ms Sala was being used as a “political tool”.

Neither the Italian nor the Iranian authorities have confirmed any connection between Cecilia Sala and Mohammad Abedini.

However, on December 21, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador over Mr Abedini’s arrest.

Italy condemned Ms Sala’s arrest as “unacceptable” and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said efforts to free her were “difficult”.

“There is a lot of interest, especially when it comes to how Cecilia is being treated,” he told Italian TV. However, he added that negotiations were “delicate” and he did not expect it to take long for his release.

Ms Sala’s employer, podcast company Chora Media, announced her arrest on 27 December.

The company said it had initially remained silent for a week at the request of Ms Sala’s family and the Italian Foreign Ministry “in the hope that this silence would lead to her speedy release. Unfortunately, this did not happen.”

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the entire Italian government was “working hard” to ensure Ms Sala’s release.

“Negotiations with Iran cannot be resolved by influencing Western public opinion…

Ms Sala has been given access to the embassy and is in contact with her family by phone, Iran’s Culture Ministry said.

One of Ms Sala’s colleagues at Chora Media said that she was allowed to receive a “care bag” in prison with panettone, chocolate, cigarettes and an eye mask so that she could sleep even with the prison lights, which are not turned off.

Cecilia Sala’s popular daily podcast features different stories happening in each episode.

The last one was published a day before her arrest and focused on Zeynab Mousavi, a female comedian who was arrested by the Iranian authorities and imprisoned.