ROME (AP) – Italy summoned Iran’s ambassador Thursday. demand the release of Italian journalists Meanwhile, Tehran has demanded from Italy the release of an Iranian national arrested on a U.S. warrant for a drone strike that killed three Americans in Jordan a year ago.
The development reflected an escalation in a delicate diplomatic tangle between the three countries, which has been marked by a series of public accusations.
The complicated saga began on December 16, when the US Department of Justice announced charges against two Iranian nationals. Providing drone technology to Iran It was used in a January 2024 attack on a US military outpost in Jordan, killing three US soldiers.
One of the suspects, Mohammad Abedini, was detained that day at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a U.S. extradition warrant.
Three days later, Cecilia Sala, an Italian reporter for the daily newspaper Il Folio, was detained in Tehran. She entered the country on December 13 on a journalist visa and was arrested on charges. violate the laws of the Islamic RepublicThe state-run IRNA news agency said.
The Italian and Iranian governments mentioned both incidents in official statements on Thursday after the Iranian ambassador was summoned to Italy’s foreign ministry. This suggests that the cases are highly intertwined as countries seek the release of their citizens. Both claim that their nationals who have been detained are being unfairly accused.
The Iranian embassy in Italy said the meeting between Ambassador Mohamedreza Sabouri and Italian Foreign Ministry Secretary General Riccardo Guariglia was friendly.
However, in a statement on X, the embassy said Abedini was being held on “false charges” and demanded his release, in what appears to be Tehran’s first public response to the US case against him.
They insisted that Sara was being treated humanely, especially in light of the Christmas and New Year holidays, and demanded that Abedini be treated similarly.
“The Italian government has a mutual expectation that, in addition to facilitating the release of the detained Iranian national, he will be provided with the necessities,” the statement said.
U.S. federal prosecutors charged Abedini and his co-defendants with export control violations after FBI experts analyzed and tracked the drone navigation system used in the Jordan attack. U.S. prosecutors said Mr. Abedini’s Tehran-based company makes navigation systems for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps’ military drone program.
since then, 1979 Iran US Embassy CrisisIran has frequently used Western-linked prisoners as bargaining chips in negotiations over the 444-day captivity of dozens of American hostages in Tehran.
Italian commentators have speculated that this may be the case, given that the Iranian government has detained Salah and is calling for Abedini’s release. Sala’s fate dominates Italian headlines daily and was mentioned in President Sergio Mattarella’s year-end address to the nation.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Iran’s ambassador, Sahouri, to ensure Sara’s release and “dignified conditions of detention with full respect for human rights,” including consular access and visits.
Premier at a later date Giorgia Meloni He convened a high-level meeting with Italy’s justice and foreign ministers to discuss the case between Sala and Abedini, and also met separately with Sala’s mother. Meloni’s office said in a statement that the government reiterates its call for Sala’s immediate release and for “treatment that respects human dignity” during that time.
Regarding Abedini, the government reaffirmed that “all will be guaranteed equal treatment in accordance with Italian law and international practice.”
Abedini’s Italian lawyer, Alfredo de Francesco, asked a Milan court this week to grant him house arrest. On Thursday, Milan prosecutor Francesca Nanni objected to the claim, saying Abedini was a flight risk, especially since the Italian residence proposed for Abedini was owned by the Iranian government.
“The circumstances outlined in the request, in particular the provision of an apartment and financial support from the Iranian consulate… are not sufficient guarantees against the flight risk of the Iranian nationals whose extradition the United States has requested,” Adkronos news agency reported. It quoted Nanni’s statement, which the office confirmed.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the matter.
In the meantime, Sarah’s mother said only that she wants her daughter to return home and be treated humanely by Iran.
After the meeting, Elisabetta Vernoni told reporters outside Meloni’s office that her daughter had called her for a second time on Wednesday to report that she was sleeping on the floor of a cell normally used to punish prisoners. He said he received it.
“I’m a little like Cecilia, I’m like a soldier. I wait and respect their efforts,” Vernoni said.
“But for a 29-year-old girl who has done nothing, the prison conditions must not scar her for life,” she added.
