Italian journalist jailed in Iran over podcast
An Italian journalist has been arrested in Iran and thrown into solitary confinement after she released a podcast episode about a woman who had rejected her conservative values.
Cecilia Sala, 29, who works for Il Foglio newspaper and podcast company Chora Media has been under arrest for the past week after she was detained by police in Tehran on December 19.
The foreign ministry has said Sala's case was being followed with utmost attention and revealed that Rome's ambassador in Tehran, Paola Amadei, had visited the journalist to check on her detention conditions.
She is reportedly allowed to make two phone calls to her family.
"Italy is working tirelessly to free her, pursuing every option," Defence Minister Guido Crosetto - a key figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government - wrote on the social media platform X, calling the arrest unacceptable.
Chora Media said Sala had left Rome for Iran on December 12 with a valid journalist visa and had conducted several interviews and produced three episodes of her Stories podcast.
She had been due to fly back to Rome on December 20.
The last three episodes of Sala's podcast featured an Iranian female comedian, a former military commander and a young woman who has rejected her conservative values.
Sala's employer added that she was being held in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin prison and no reason had been given for her arrest.
There was no immediate confirmation of the arrest by Iranian officials.
Italian sources with knowledge of the matter said she was very tired but physically fine.
Chora said news of Sala's arrest was not immediately made public as her family and Italian authorities had hoped that keeping it quiet could help secure her swift release.
It was not clear whether it might be linked to tensions between Rome and Tehran after Iran last week summoned a senior Italian diplomat and the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in the country, over the arrest of two Iranian nationals. One of the men was arrested in Italy at Washington's request.
