The Italian Foreign Ministry said that an Italian journalist has been detained in Iran for more than a week.
Cecilia Sala works for the newspaper Il Foglio and for the podcast company Chora Media.
The Foreign Ministry said it had been following Sala's case “with great interest” since she was arrested by Tehran police on December 19.
There was no immediate confirmation from Iranian officials about the arrest.
Chora Media said in a separate statement that Sala is being held in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin Prison, and no reason has been given for her arrest.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that Rome's ambassador to Tehran, Paola Amadi, visited her to check on her detention conditions, adding that she was allowed to make two phone calls to her family.
She added that Italy is “working with the Iranian authorities to clarify the legal status of Cecilia Sala.”
According to Chora Media, Ms. Sala left Rome for Iran on December 12 on a valid press visa and conducted several interviews and produced three episodes of her podcast “Stories.”
She added that she was scheduled to return to Rome on December 20, but her phone stopped working after she exchanged some messages on December 19.
Il Foglio, Sala's other employer, called for her release, saying that “journalism is not a crime.”
The newspaper said in a statement on its website, “Cecilia was in Iran on a regular visa to write a report about a country she knows and loves, a country where information is suffocated due to repression.”
Reuters reported, citing Iranian media, that Iran summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran and a senior Italian diplomat last week due to the arrest of Iranian citizens.
Iran was rocked by protests in 2022 after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September of that year. Tens of thousands of people were arrested in connection with the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests.
Mahsa was arrested on charges of violating Iranian laws requiring women to wear the hijab, and died in police custody.
