Iran's foreign ministry has summoned the Italian ambassador over the arrest of Mohammad Abedini, who is wanted by the United States for his alleged involvement in a deadly drone attack on a US base in Jordan.
Abedini was detained at Milan's Malpensa airport on December 16, 2024, at the request of US authorities, who accused him of violating sanctions and supplying drone parts to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Those components were used in a January 2024 drone attack in Jordan that killed three US military personnel, US judicial authorities said. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.
Iran summoned the Italian ambassador for talks on Friday, a day after the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian ambassador to Rome to protest the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was detained in Tehran on December 19, 2024, Radio Farda (RSE Iranian Service) reported. .
The Italian Foreign Ministry said that Sala, the author of the "Stories" podcast, which deals with life in different places around the world, was in Iran for "journalistic activities".
Iranian Foreign Ministry Director General for Western Europe Majid Nili Ahmadabadi said in a meeting with the Italian ambassador on Friday that Abedini's arrest was "illegal" and demanded his immediate release, according to state news agency IRNA.
Ahmadabadi also said that the US is trying to "take Iranian citizens hostage around the world".
Iranian authorities have not publicized Sala's case since her detention in December 2024. After Italian media reported her arrest, Iran's Ministry of Culture said only that she had "violated the laws of the Islamic Republic," without providing further details.
The US stated that Sala's detention - three days after Abedini's arrest - was "retaliation".
The organizations Reporters Without Borders and the International Federation of Journalists assessed that her arrest was "arbitrarily" carried out for the purpose of "extortion".
As stated on the website of the newspaper Il Foglio, where Sala works, the Court of Appeal in Milan will hold a hearing in Abedini's case on January 15.
Several European countries and the US have characterized the arrest of Western nationals in Iran as "hostage diplomacy", claiming that Iran is using the detentions as bargaining chips with the West.
In December 2024, a Tehran court sentenced Reza Valizadeh, a dual US-Iranian citizen and former Radio Fard journalist, to 10 years in prison for "collaborating with an enemy government".
Valizadeh left Radio Fard in November 2022, having worked there for ten years. He visited his family in Iran in early 2024 before being detained on September 22.
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