This release is the result of “intense work through diplomatic and intelligence channels”, underlines the press release. Prime Minister “Giorgia Meloni expresses her gratitude to all those who contributed to making Cecilia’s return possible, allowing her to reunite with her family and colleagues.” Giorgia Meloni received the journalist’s mother at government headquarters on January 2 and spoke by telephone with her father.
The journalist was arrested in Tehran during a professional stay on a journalistic visa, but the Iranian authorities have never communicated the precise reasons for this arrest. Cecilia Sala, 29, has since been in a cell in Evin prison in Tehran. The journalist works for Chora Media, a site publishing podcasts, as well as for the daily Il Foglio.
The head of Italian diplomacy Antonio Tajani summoned the Iranian ambassador on January 2, with Rome demanding the “immediate release” of the journalist. Italy had also demanded for the detainee “treatment respectful of human dignity”, while according to the Italian press she was in solitary confinement, forced to sleep on the floor, and had been deprived of her glasses. On January 3, the Italian ambassador to Iran was in turn summoned by Tehran.
Other European nationals still detained
The young woman, who was initially due to return 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, 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.
Tehran, however, rejected on Monday any “link” between the arrest of Cecilia Sala and that of Mohammad Abedini. Iran, which detains several Western or binational nationals, is accused by their supporters and NGOs of using them as a bargaining chip in state-to-state negotiations.
Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, a French couple imprisoned since 2022 during a tourist stay, are thus accused by the Iranian authorities of “espionage”, which their relatives “firmly refute”. A third Frenchman, named Olivier but whose last name has not been made public, has also been detained in Iran since 2022. Paris describes these prisoners as “state hostages”.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Tuesday called on French nationals not to travel to Iran until “the complete release” of French detainees in this country.
