Iran confirms arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala 

Iran has confirmed the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic”, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

Sala, 29, who works for a newspaper Sheet and podcast company Chora Media, was arrested in Tehran on Dec. 19, according to Italy’s foreign ministry.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Saturday declined to say whether the case could be linked to the arrest of an Iranian man in Italy this month at the request of the United States.

The case of the Italian journalist detained in Iran is “complicated,” but Rome hopes to bring Sala home quickly, Tajani said.

“Italian citizen Cecilia Sala traveled to Iran on December 13 with a journalist’s visa and was detained on December 19… for violating the laws of the Islamic Republic,” the Iranian Ministry of Culture said in a statement, IRNA reports.

Chora Media said Sala left Rome for Iran on Dec. 12 with a valid journalist’s visa and conducted several interviews and produced three episodes of her “Stories” podcast. She was supposed to return to Rome on December 20.

Sala contacted her family by phone, and the Italian embassy in Tehran was informed of her detention, according to the statement.

In recent years, Iranian security forces have arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.

Human rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests. Iran denies that it captured the prisoners to gain diplomatic power.