The arrest of a famous Italian journalist in Iran in retaliation is the detention of a Swiss-Iranian businessman and a suspected arms dealer. Italy three days earlier, according to media reports.
Cecilia Sala, 29, is a war correspondent and reporter who works for the Italian newspaper Il Foglio and the Chora Media podcast company. detained on December 19 when he resigned in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and was kept in solitary confinement for a week.
She was seen as a regular journalist in the region and published various reports on various landscapes Iran after the fall of Assad in Syria. He said the Italian government needed to bring her back to Italy.
The foreign ministry said Sala was allowed to make two phone calls to his relatives. The Italian ambassador, Paola Amadei, visited Sala in prison on Friday, and Antonio Tajani, the Italian foreign minister, told the journalist “he is in good condition.”
on Sunday, or . interview with the RepublicA US state department spokesman said his detention was due to the December 16 arrest at the Milan airport of a US Swiss-Iranian businessman and alleged arms trade with the Iranian government.
“Unfortunately, the Iranian government continues to unjustly detain citizens of many other countries, often using them as political leverage,” said the US spokesman. are.”
“We are aware of the arrest of an Italian journalist in Iran, Cecilia Salas,” the state department added. “Iris’s arrest comes after an Iranian citizen was arrested in Italy on December 16 for allegedly using a fake drone. Once again, we ask for the immediate and absolute release of all prisoners in Iran who are being held arbitrarily without just cause.
Three days before Sala’s arrest in Tehran, Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, a 38-year-old Swiss-Iranian businessman, was arrested at Milan Malpensa airport on US warrants over charges of illegal electronic technology exports. paint on
He is accused of being a member of a criminal organization for terrorism and is being held in a Milan prison.
Najafabadi’s lawyer, Alfredo De Francesco, told the Italian state news agency Ansa that his client’s agency had rejected all charges against him.
“From the analysis of the documents in my possession, although the alleged charges are formally serious, in reality the position of my client seems to be much lighter than it seems,” De Francesco said. “He denies the charges and cannot identify the reasons for the arrest.”
Nafafabad wanted in the US He is accused of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization by trafficking drones, some of which were used in the deadly attack in Jordan.
His arrest led to a diplomatic spat, with Tehran bringing in ambassadors from Switzerland and Italy.
When asked about the arrest of Najafabadi, Tajani said: “He is a Swiss-Iranian prisoner who was arrested in Malpensa before Cecilia Sala in Tehran because the international arrest was issued by the US.”
“The prisoner, because he has not yet been convicted, is treated with all the rights of the guarantor, which must be guaranteed,” Tajani adds. “He received a visit from the consulate, he had a lawyer to know the case, but there are crimes that come from an international arrest, it is not an Italian choice, Italy is not responsible for the crime of this Iranian. Then we will see about the extradition. For the protections that are owed to the non-Italian prisoner, he will be detained immediately in prison.
Sala has nearly half a million followers on Instagram and is a regular guest on Italian conferences. Among other topics, he covered Kabul and the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the crisis in Venezuela, the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, followed the case closely and all efforts were made to bring Sala home, her office at Palazzo Chigi said.
The European Commission’s foreign policy spokesman Anouar El Anouni confirmed the Italian journalist’s “sensitive” situation.
Iran has not recognized Sala’s detention and his crimes remain unknown.