Iran: Rome demands release of arrested Italian journalist

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

The Italian government “confirms its commitment to the Iranian authorities to obtain the immediate release of Cecilia Sala and, while waiting for this, treatment respectful of human dignity,” said the services of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni early in the evening. in a press release.

According to the Italian press, the journalist is in solitary confinement, forced to sleep on the floor, and has been deprived of her glasses.

“Dignified conditions of detention”

This clarification came at the end of an hour-long meeting on this affair convened in the afternoon by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in the presence of Antonio Tajani, his Justice counterpart Carlo Nordio, and heads of intelligence services.

Giorgia Meloni also received the journalist’s mother at government headquarters in the afternoon and spoke by telephone with her father, the press release specifies.

At midday, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riccardo Guariglia, who received the Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sabouri, “reiterated the request” of the Italian authorities that the journalist be able to benefit from “detention conditions dignified, with respect for human rights,” according to a press release issued at the end of this meeting.

“Guarantee full consular assistance”

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” .

Thursday evening, Antonio Tajani announced that the Italian ambassador to Tehran was in turn summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

Iran confirmed on Monday the arrest of the journalist in Tehran on December 19, for having “broken the laws” during a professional stay with a journalistic visa.

An “unacceptable” arrest

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.

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.

“Exporting sophisticated electronic components to Iran”

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.

Several Western or dual nationals detained in Iran

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

The embassy thus draws a parallel between the two cases and requests that Italy “in addition to accelerating the release of the detained Iranian national, provide him with the necessary assistance”.

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”.

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