Italy’s Foreign Ministry said journalist Cecilia Sala, who was in Iran to carry out "journalistic activities," has been detained by Tehran police authorities.
The ministry said in a statement on December 27 that Sala, who has a podcast called Stories that covers life in places around the world, was detained on December 19.
It gave no reason for the detention, but said in a statement that the ambassador from Italy's embassy in Tehran had paid a consular visit "to verify the conditions and state of detention of Sala."
"The family was informed of the results of the consular visit. Previously, Sala had the opportunity to make two phone calls with her relatives," it said.
Sala posted a podcast from Tehran on December 17 about patriarchy in the Iranian capital.
Iran is routinely accused of arresting dual nationals and Western citizens on false charges to use them to pressure Western countries.
Earlier this month, Reza Valizadeh, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen and former journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Farda, was handed a 10-year sentence by Tehran's Revolutionary Court on charges of "collaborating with a hostile government."
Valizadeh resigned from Radio Farda in November 2022 after a decade of work. He returned to Iran in early 2024 to visit his family but was arrested on September 22.
His two court sessions, held on November 20 and December 7, reportedly lacked a prosecution representative, with the judge assuming that role.
Sources close to the journalist claim he fell into a "security trap" despite receiving unofficial assurances from Iranian security officials that he would not face legal troubles upon returning to Iran.
Iran is among the most repressive countries in terms of freedom of the press. Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 176th out of 180 countries in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
The Paris-based media watchdog says Iran is now also one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists.