Iran denies link between arrest of Italian in Tehran and Iranian in Italy

Iran denied on Monday any link between the recent arrest of an Italian journalist in Tehran and that of an Iranian national by Italy, amid a diplomatic standoff between the two countries.

In December, Iranian national Mohammad Abedini, 38, was arrested in Italy at the behest of the United States over export violations linked to a deadly attack on US servicemen.

Shortly after, Iranian authorities arrested Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for “violating the law of the Islamic republic” while on a reporting trip in Tehran.

“The (two cases) are not linked,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly news conference.

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‘Illegal detention’

On Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Italian ambassador to Tehran to protest against what it called the illegal detention of Abedini.

The day before, the Italian foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador in Rome, Mohammad Reza Sabouri, to discuss Sala’s case and demand her “immediate release.”

Baqaei condemned Abedini’s arrest at Washington’s request as “hostage-taking” and said that Iran was following the case.

A second man, US-Iranian Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, was also arrested in the United States and charged with conspiring with Abedini, accusations that Iran denies.

Sala, 29, travelled to Iran on December 13 on a journalist’s visa.

She was arrested six days later and kept in Tehran’s Evin prison, according to Chora Media, an Italian podcast publisher for which Sala worked.

© Agence France-Presse

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