Iran said Monday that the December 19
arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Tehran had nothing
to do with the December 16 arrest at a Milan airport of Iranian
engineer Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi on US charges of exporting
drone parts used to kill three US servicemen in Jordan a year
ago.
"The Italian journalist was detained for violating Iranian laws,
while the measure taken by the United States against Abedini is
a sort of hostage-taking", said Iranian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Esmail Baghaei.
The spokesman added that Sala's arrest was the subject of an
Iranian investigation.
"The Italian journalist was arrested for 'violating the laws of
the Islamic Republic (of Iran),' the foreign media department of
the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said in a
statement," Baghaei said. "The announcement of the latest
developments and details of the case is up to the spokesman for
the judiciary (Asghar Jahangir)," his weekly statement read.
Sala, a 29-year-old Il Foglio freelance reporter and Chora News
podcaster, is being held in isolation in Tehran's notorious Evin
Prison.
Prmier Giorgia Meloni discussed the case with US President-elect
Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago Sunday and, according to the New York
Times, "pressed hard" as part of Italian government efforts to
try to achieve Sala's release.
On January 15, there will be a hearing at the Court of Appeal of
Milan on a request for house arrest
for the Iranian engineer.
The Financial Times said Monday that Meloni's lightning visit to
Trump comes at a time when the
prime minister faces "her toughest diplomatic challenge since
taking office" marked by "internal political protests over the
arrest in Iran of the Italian journalist".
Sala's parents have requested media silence over the affair.
Elisabetta Vernoni and Renato Sala said: "The situation of our
daughter, Cecilia Sala, confined in a prison in Tehran for the
past 16 days, is complicated and very concerning.
"In order to try and bring her back home, our government has
mobilized and now, in addition to the Italian authorities'
efforts, confidentiality and discretion are necessary.
Meanwhile, well-informed sources said that talks are ongoing
between the Italian government and US authorities on the case.
Rome has urged Tehran to make sure Sala is being held in
dignified conditions and that she will be released as soon as
possible.
In her last call to her family, Sala said her detention
conditions in solitary confinement in Evin had not improved and
that she has no mattress but just two blankets, one to put on
the floor to sleep on and one to protect herself from the biting
cold.
She also said she had no mask to sleep as the light is on in her
cell all day and all night.
Meanwhile Abedini, who is detained at Milan's Opera prison, has
told his attorney Alfredo De Francesco on that he will pray for
Sala and for himself.
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