Iran confirmed on Monday the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, saying she was detained for violating Iranian laws but did not provide specific details.
Sala “traveled to Iran on December 13, 2024, with a journalist visa and was arrested on December 19, 2024, on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic,” Iran’s culture ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that Sala’s case is currently under investigation, and the Italian embassy in Tehran has been informed. “Consular access has been provided to [Sala], and she has been in contact with her family by phone,” the statement said.
The ministry also said further details would be shared later, pending judicial approval.
Chora Media, an Italian podcast publisher for which Sala worked, said on Friday that she was being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. According to Chora Media, the reason for her arrest “has not yet been formalized.”
Sala, who also worked for the Italian newspaper Il Foglio, had traveled to Iran to report on “a country she knows and loves,” the newspaper said.
On Saturday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani described efforts to secure Sala’s release as “complicated.” He declined to comment on whether her detention might be linked to a recent dispute between Iran and Italy.
There has been speculation that Sala’s arrest could be in retaliation for Italy’s arrest of an Iranian citizen earlier this month at the request of the United States.
On December 16, US prosecutors charged two Iranians, Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi and Mohammad Abedininajafabadi, with “conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of US export control and sanctions laws.” The US Department of Justice said the exported technology was used in a January drone attack that killed three US servicemen in Jordan.
Abedininajafabadi, 38, was arrested in Italy by Italian authorities acting on a US request. Sadeghi, identified as a 42-year-old dual US-Iranian national, was arrested in the United States.
Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Italian chargé d’affaires and the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in Tehran, to protest the arrests.
Over the years, Iran’s security forces have detained dozens of foreigners and dual nationals, often accusing them of espionage or security-related offenses. Rights groups have criticized Iran for using such arrests to extract diplomatic concessions, a claim Tehran denies.
