Iranian authorities have confirmed for the first time that Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested in the country on the grounds of “violation of the Islamic Republic’s laws”.
It comes as a US state department spokesperson told Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica that Ms Sala’s case could be linked to the recent arrest of an Iranian citizen in Milan at the request of the United States.
Ms Sala, a 29-year-old journalist and the host of a popular news and foreign affairs podcast, was detained in Iran on 19 December, the day before she was supposed to fly home from a reporting trip.
She is now reportedly being held in solitary confinement in Teheran’s Evin prison.
On 16 December, Iranian national Mohammad Abedini was arrested in Milan on charges of supplying electronic parts for drones to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), resulting in the deaths of three American soldiers. The US is currently seeking Mr Abedini’s extradition from Italy.
The US state department spokesperson quoted by La Repubblica said Ms Sala was being used as “political leverage”.
Neither the Italian nor the Iranian governments have confirmed any link between Cecilia Sala and Mohammad Abedini.
However, on 21 December, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned a senior Italian diplomat over Mr Abedini’s arrest.
Italy denounced Ms Sala’s arrest as “unacceptable” and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that efforts to free her were “complicated”.
“There is a certain amount of goodwill, especially in terms of the way Cecilia is being treated,” he told Italian TV. However, he added that negotiations were “very delicate” and that he could not guess how long it would take to secure her release.
Ms Sala’s employer, podcast company Chora Media, broke the news of her arrest on 27 December.
The company said it had initially kept quiet for a week on the request of Ms Sala’s family and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “hoping this silence would lead to her swift release. Unfortunately, this has not yet happened.”
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that the entire Italian government was “working tirelessly” to ensure Ms Sala’s release.
“Negotiations with Iran won’t be solved by involving Western public opinion… but through high-level political and diplomatic action,” he wrote on X.
Ms Sala has been granted consular access and is in contact with her family by phone, the Iranian Culture Ministry said.
One of Ms Sala’s colleagues at Chora Media said she had been allowed to receive a “care package” in jail with a panettone, chocolate, cigarettes and an eye mask to allow her to sleep despite the prison’s bright lights, which are never turned off.
Cecilia Sala’s popular daily podcast covers a different angle of a current affairs story in each episode.
The last one was published a day before her arrest and focused on Zeynab Mousavi, a female stand-up comedian who was detained by the Iranian authorities and placed in solitary confinement.
