One Day After Summoning the Iranian Ambassador in Rome, Tehran Also Summoned the Italian Ambassador

One day after summoning the Iranian ambassador in Rome and protesting the arrest of Cecilia Sala, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador to express its objection to the arrest of Mohammad Abedini. Mohammad Abedini, accused by the U.S. of transferring sensitive drone parts to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was arrested on December 17 at Milan Airport, Italy. Three days later, on December 20, Iran arrested an Italian journalist named Cecilia Sala. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, Paola Amadei, the Italian ambassador in Tehran, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Friday, January 4, where Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, the director general for Western Europe at the ministry, claimed that the arrest of Mohammad Abedini was 'illegal' and he should be 'released as soon as possible.' The day before, the Italian Foreign Ministry had summoned Mohammad Reza Sabouri, the Iranian ambassador in Rome, to protest the arrest of Cecilia Sala. After this summoning, Mohammad Reza Sabouri published a note on the social media platform X, for the first time discussing the connection between the arrest of Cecilia Sala and the detention of Mohammad Abedini. Iranian officials remained silent for about two weeks regarding the arrest of the Italian journalist, and after the issue was publicized by Italy, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced without explanation that the reason for the journalist's arrest was 'violating the laws of the Islamic Republic.' The U.S. has described Iran's action in arresting Ms. Sala as 'retaliatory.' Reporters Without Borders and the International Federation of Journalists have also described the arrest of this Italian journalist as 'arbitrary' and aimed at 'extortion.' However, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, in his meeting with the Italian ambassador in Tehran, claimed that the U.S. is seeking 'the hostage-taking of Iranian citizens around the world.' According to the website Il Foglio, with which Ms. Sala collaborated, the Milan appeals court will hold a session on January 15 regarding the request of Mohammad Abedini's lawyer to convert his imprisonment to house arrest and possibly regarding the extradition of the accused to the U.S. The United States claims that Mohammad Abedini, in collusion with an Iranian-American named Mehdi Mohammadzadeh, supplied sensitive parts for the IRGC that were used in a drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan, which resulted in three deaths. Iran has denied involvement in that attack. The U.S. has charged two Iranians in connection with last year's attack on Tower 22 base. Several European countries and the United States have referred to the arrest of Western citizens by the Islamic Republic as 'hostage diplomacy' and say that the Iranian government uses the detention of citizens for 'bargaining in negotiations' with the West.