An Italian journalist detained in Iran last month has been released and is returning home, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Jan. 8.
Cecilia Sala, a 29-year-old journalist with the daily newspaper Il Foglio, was detained on Dec. 19, 2024, and held in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Her editor, Claudio Cerasa, said Sala was in Iran “to report on a country she knows and loves.”
In December 2024, he called for her release, saying that “journalism is not a crime” and urging Italian authorities to “bring Cecilia Sala home.”
On Dec. 27, 2024, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani said the Italian Embassy and Italian Consulate in Tehran were monitoring the situation and said that Sala was “in good health condition” following a consular visit.
Iranian authorities initially did not acknowledge detaining her. Italian officials refrained from releasing further details at the time, citing efforts to resolve the situation diplomatically.
Abedini remains in detention in Italy but has asked a court in Milan to grant him house arrest pending an extradition hearing.
Iranian state media reported that an Iranian Foreign Ministry official had urged Italy to “reject America’s hostage policy” and not cooperate with the U.S. warrant, which it called “contrary to international law.”
Drone Attack in Jordan
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement on Dec. 19, 2024, that Abedini was one of two Iranians who had been indicted on charges related to the drone attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan.The DOJ stated that Abedini and the other man had been involved in a “scheme to illegally export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran.”
Each man was indicted on one count of conspiracy to violate sanctions against Iran and three counts of violation of sanctions.
Abedini was also indicted on four additional counts of violation of the sanctions, as well as one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death and one count of provision and attempted provision of material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death.
The three soldiers killed in the attack were Sgt. William Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Spc. Kennedy Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Spc. Breonna Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia.
More than 40 others were injured in the attack.
Iran denied involvement. A group called the Iraqi Islamic Resistance claimed responsibility for the attack.
Western reporters often face significant challenges and the threat of arbitrary arrest while working in Iran.
Since the 1979 U.S. Embassy crisis, Iran has frequently used detainees with Western ties as leverage in negotiations with other nations.
In September 2023, five Americans detained in Iran were freed in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody, along with the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Other cases, including those of Roxana Saberi in 2009 and Jason Rezaian in 2014, involved false espionage accusations and closed-door trials. Saberi was held for 100 days before her release, and Rezaian endured more than 540 days in detention before a prisoner swap secured his freedom.
