Arrested Iranian rejects all charges

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 28 - A 38-year-old Swiss-Iranian linked to the Tehran regime who was arrested at a Milan airport off a flight from Istanbul on a US warrant December 16 for allegedly breaching sanctions by exporting electronic devices with terror aims has rejected all the charges in the warrant, his lawyer said Saturday.
    The man's arrest may have led, as a reprisal, to the December 19 arrest in Tehran of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala.
    "From the analysis of the documents in my possession, although the charges brought are formally serious, in reality the position of my client appears to be much less serious than it may seem. He rejects the charges and is unable to understand the reasons for the arrest", said Alfredo De Francesco, defence attorney of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi.
    The man is essentially accused of criminal association with the purpose of terrorism and he is currently detained in the Opera prison, in Milan, after the precautionary measure issued by the Court of Appeal of Milan. (ANSA).