Rome summons Iranian ambassador after arrest of Italian journalist

The head of Italian diplomacy summoned the Iranian ambassador on Thursday, from whom Rome demanded the “immediate release” of journalist Cecilia Sala, arrested on December 19 in Tehran during a professional trip.

The government is “working tirelessly to bring her back to Italy and we demand that all her rights be respected. Until her release, Cecilia and her parents will never be left alone,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani promised on X.

The Secretary General of the Ministry Riccardo Guariglia, who received Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sabouri at midday, “reiterated the request” of the Italian authorities that the journalist be able to benefit from “dignified conditions of detention, with respect for human rights », Specified the ministry in a press release following this meeting. The ambassador was also asked “to guarantee him full consular assistance, allowing the Italian Embassy in Tehran to visit him and provide him with comfort items which have so far been denied to him” .

This call to order from Rome comes at a time when, according to the Italian press, the journalist is in solitary confinement, forced to sleep on the floor and has been deprived of her glasses. Iran confirmed on Monday the arrest of the journalist in Tehran on December 19, for having “broken the laws” during a professional stay on a journalistic visa. Cecilia Sala, 29, has since been in a cell in Evin prison in Tehran, according to her employer Chora Media, a site publishing podcasts. Italy had already denounced an “unacceptable” arrest on Friday.

Two Iranians arrested

Cecilia Sala, who also works for the daily Il Foglio, benefited from consular access and was in contact with her family, according to Iranian authorities. The young woman, who should have returned to Italy on December 20, was arrested a few days after the arrests in the United States and Italy of two Iranians suspected by the American justice system of transferring sensitive technologies.

Mohammad Abedini, 38, was arrested in December in Italy at the request of American authorities. Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42 years old and who holds dual nationality, is incarcerated in the United States. American justice formally accused them on December 17 of “exporting sophisticated electronic components to Iran”, in violation of regulations in the United States and American sanctions against Iran.

According to the US Department of Justice, these components were used during a drone attack in Jordan which cost the lives of three US soldiers in January 2024. Iran has denied any involvement and blasted “baseless” allegations.

A position reaffirmed Thursday on , detained in Milan prison on false charges, and Cecilia Sala, Italian national detained in Iran for violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The embassy also draws a parallel between the two cases by asking that Italy “reciprocally, in addition to accelerating the release of the detained Iranian national, provide him with the necessary assistance”. A meeting on this thorny situation was also called Thursday afternoon at government headquarters by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in the presence of Mr. Tajani, his Justice counterpart Carlo Nordio, and the heads of the intelligence services.

Several Western or dual nationals are detained in Iran, like Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, a French couple imprisoned since 2022 during a tourist stay and accused by the authorities of “espionage”, which their relatives “refute firmly.”