Italy works for the release of a journalist arrested in Iran

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday that the release of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, arrested on December 19 in Tehran, is expected to take place soon.

“It is difficult to say how long it will take, I hope it is short but it is not up to us. We are trying to resolve a complicated issue and in the meantime ensure that Cecilia Sala is detained in the best possible conditions, that she can receive consular visits, that she can speak with her family and, therefore, receive dignified treatment, which is what is happening at the moment,” he said in a statement.

She added that, as confirmed by the Italian ambassador to Iran, Paola Amadei, "the treatment (that the informant receives) is dignified, it is respectful of the dignity of the person."

"She's obviously being held in custody, so it's not an ideal condition, but she's being fed and she's being held in a single cell, but she's not in isolation," he added.

“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is closely following the complex story of Cecilia Sala since her arrest and is in close contact with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano to ensure that the Italian journalist returns home as soon as possible,” according to a statement released by the government today.

The note added that "all possible dialogues have been activated and with the necessary caution, which is expected to continue to be observed by the media."

The journalist has already been able to speak to her family by phone on two occasions.

Sala, a 29-year-old international news expert and contributor to the daily Il Foglio, was arrested on December 19 at her hotel in Tehran, shortly before heading to the airport to return home.

For the past ten days, he had been in the Islamic Republic on a journalist visa and had published a number of reports on the situation in the country and how the fall of the regime in neighbouring Syria was affecting it.

The journalist had previously reported on women's living conditions from Iran and participated in a podcast on “patriarchy in Tehran.”

Sala is now being held in Evin prison in the capital, where regime opponents are jailed.

The Italian traveler Alessia Piperno was also detained in the same prison for 45 days in 2022, amid protests over the murder of the young Iranian Mahsa Amini after being arrested by the Morality Police for wearing her veil incorrectly. EFE