Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Detained by Iranian Police While Reporting

Rome: An Italian journalist, Cecilia Sala, who was reporting in Tehran, has been detained by Iranian authorities, Italy's foreign ministry confirmed in a statement on Friday.

The ministry stated that Sala was detained on December 19 while working in the Iranian capital. It is actively engaging with Iranian authorities "to clarify the legal situation of Sala and to verify the conditions of her detention."

Sala, a reporter for the Italian daily Il Foglio, is reportedly being held in Tehran's Evin prison. According to the publication, she was in Iran on a regular visa "to report on a country she knows and loves."

The newspaper's editor, Claudio Cerasa, wrote on Friday that “journalism is not a crime”, asking to “bring Cecilia Sala home”.

Sala had been allowed to make two phone calls to her relatives, the foreign ministry said. Italian Ambassador Paola Amadei visited Sala in prison Friday, and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the journalist was “in good health condition".

Iran has not acknowledged detaining Sala. However, it can take weeks before authorities announce such arrests.

Since the 1979 US Embassy crisis, which saw dozens of hostages released after 444 days in captivity, Iran has used prisoners with Western ties as bargaining chips in negotiations with the world.

In September 2023, five Americans detained for years in Iran were freed in exchange for five Iranians in US custody and for USD 6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be released by South Korea.

Western journalists have been held in the past as well. Roxana Saberi, an American journalist, was detained by Iran in 2009 for some 100 days before being released.

Also detained by Iran was Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, who was held for over 540 days before being released in 2016 in a prisoner swap between Iran and the US.

Both cases involved Iran making false espionage accusations in closed-door hearings.

(with agency inputs)