A prominent Italian journalist was arrested in Iran and jailed in the country’s infamous Evin prison after spending days reporting in Tehran, according to Italian officials.
Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed that the journalist, Cecilia Sala, 29, was arrested on December 19, though news of her detention only became public on Friday. The reasons for Ms. Sala's arrest, one of Italy’s most renowned foreign correspondents, have not been disclosed.
Ms. Sala, a writer and podcaster, had been reporting from Tehran since December 13, detailing the changes in the country over the past tumultuous year marked by military conflict in the region and the new leadership of President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July.
In her reports, Ms. Sala highlighted how many women were defying the country's leadership by not wearing hijabs and interviewed an Iranian stand-up comedian who had been imprisoned in Iran.
Ms. Sala was scheduled to return to Italy on December 20 but did not appear at Tehran’s airport, as noted by Italy’s foreign ministry.
According to Il Post, an Italian news website where Ms. Sala’s partner, Daniele Raineri, works, she was in Iran on an eight-day journalist visa and is currently in solitary confinement at Evin prison, a facility known for housing numerous dissidents and political prisoners.
Italy’s foreign ministry is actively negotiating for Ms. Sala’s release.
Iran has a history of incarcerating journalists, particularly those covering sensitive issues. Recently, it detained reporters involved in the case of Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody sparked widespread anti-government protests in 2022. The Iranian government has also jailed foreigners and dual nationals, with human rights organizations suggesting that these detentions are part of a strategy to secure concessions from other nations, including potential prisoner swaps.
On the day before Ms. Sala's arrest, Milan police reported the apprehension of a 38-year-old Iranian man accused by the United States of supplying drone components to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the country’s main military force. The individual faces potential extradition to the United States, according to a police statement.
The statement did not identify the man, but earlier that week, the Justice Department charged two individuals with illegally supplying parts used in a drone attack linked to an Iranian-backed militia that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members at a military base in Jordan in January.
Italy’s foreign ministry stated that the country’s ambassador to Iran, Paola Amadei, visited Ms. Sala on Friday to assess her conditions. Since her arrest, Ms. Sala has been allowed to make two phone calls to her relatives.
In her coverage, Ms. Sala reported on the anti-government protests known as the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, as well as the high inflation rates affecting the country. She also discussed the unraveling of Iran’s “axis of resistance” following the fall of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, an ally of the Islamic Republic.