Cecilia Sala, a 29-year-old Italian journalist who traveled to Iran to report, was arrested in Tehran.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on December 27, 2024 in a statement regarding the arrest of one of its citizens in Iran. The statement indicated that Cecilia Sala has been in custody in Tehran since December 19, 2024. According to this announcement, the Italian ambassador in Tehran has had a consular meeting with Ms. Sala, and her family has also been able to contact her by phone.
So far, no officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran have commented on the reasons for the arrest or the latest conditions of Cecilia Sala. However, her arrest in Tehran coincides with the arrest of an Iranian citizen named Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi at Milan airport just days before the journalist’s detention.
Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi was arrested on charges of “supplying electronic components for the construction of deadly weapons such as drones for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and also funding terrorism.”
The proximity of these two events has again raised speculations about the Islamic Republic of Iran’s efforts to use the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals to negotiate exchanges with its citizens abroad. Previously, many citizens from various countries have been exchanged in Iran against government-affiliated Iranian citizens after their arrest.