Italian Foreign Minister: The Case of Detained Journalist in Iran is Complicated

On Saturday, January 8, the Italian Foreign Ministry referred to the "complicated" case of Cecilia Sala, the detained Italian journalist in Iran, expressing hope that she would return to her country as soon as possible. Antonio Tajani, the Italian Foreign Minister, while hoping for Cecilia Sala's swift release, added that this matter does not depend on Italy. According to him, Ms. Sala is being held in a single cell under appropriate conditions, and Italy is monitoring her situation. Mr. Tajani stated that it seems that the Italian journalist has been treated with respect so far, and no negative news has been heard in this regard. The Italian Foreign Minister further mentioned that no official reason for Cecilia Sala's detention has been announced yet, and he hopes that the journalist's lawyer will soon meet with her to obtain more information. The Islamic Republic of Iran has not yet provided an official statement regarding the detention of this Italian journalist. Antonio Tajani refrained from commenting on the possibility of linking the detention of this Italian citizen to the arrest of Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian citizen suspected of being connected to the deadly drone attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan on January 27 of last year. Mohammad Abedini, along with Mehdi Mohammadzadeh, has been accused by the United States of violating export controls, and Abedini is separately accused of conspiracy to materially support the Iranian government. During the drone attack on January 27 of last year, three American soldiers were killed and 47 others were injured. Cecilia Sala left Italy for Tehran on December 13 with a valid journalism visa and was supposed to return to her country on December 21. Although this 29-year-old journalist has been detained in Tehran since December 20 and is currently in Evin prison, news of her detention became public on Friday, January 6. Just days before her arrest in Tehran, she emphasized in one of her reports that Iranian women no longer adhere to the hijab and do not fear the police. In her report, she stated, "Many women in Iran no longer comply with the hijab laws of the Islamic Republic and do not fear having their images recorded by me or by smart cameras made in China that scan faces and report to the police." In another report, she scrutinized the Israeli fighter jets' attack on Iran on October 26 and the presence of "Masoud Pezeshkian" at the head of the government. In part of her report, Cecilia Sala stated, "Tehran is currently facing many changes. For the first time in its history, the capital of Iran has been bombed by Israeli fighter jets. The Israeli Prime Minister continues to publish videos in which he speaks directly to the Iranian people, declaring that the Islamic Republic will not last as long as many think." Foreign journalists present in Iran are required to transmit their news and images based on the considerations of the Islamic Republic's security institutions and the restrictive guidelines of the Ministry of Culture to their media outlets, and they must remain in contact and coordination with security institutions throughout their activities in Iran. The Instagram page of this journalist, which has over 407,000 followers, indicates that she has traveled to Iran in previous years and shared photos and reports from the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests and some of the injured from those events. Many political experts and human rights activists say that the Islamic Republic uses baseless accusations to detain foreign citizens, especially dual nationals, and uses them as political bargaining tools, effectively taking these citizens hostage. In this context, Shirin Ebadi, head of the Center for Human Rights Defenders and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, emphasized on Saturday regarding Cecilia Sala's detention: "If there is no fundamental change in the approach of Western countries towards the Islamic Republic, Ms. Sala will not be the last hostage." Shirin Ebadi stated on her Instagram page that "hostage-taking and extortion is an ancient tradition of the Islamic Republic that has been going on for years," adding that the Italian government, which "had hidden this illegal detention and thought it could free its citizen through dialogue and negotiation, ultimately concluded that it needed to make this news public."