On December 19, Iranian security forces detained Cecilia Sala, a journalist for Il Foglio and host of the daily podcast “Stories” on the Chora platform, in Tehran. Since her arrest, Sala has been held in solitary confinement at Evin Prison, known for housing Iranian dissidents and foreign citizens. The news of her detention has been kept under wraps while negotiations between the Italian and Iranian governments are underway for her release. Italian negotiators requested discretion to avoid jeopardizing the discussions.
The Iranian government has not publicly disclosed the charges against Sala, and it remains unclear whether any formal accusations have been made. Sala was arrested around 12:30 PM at the hotel where she was staying. Although there is no official confirmation, she stopped responding to phone calls shortly before her arrest, failed to send her scheduled podcast episode, and missed an appointment at 1 PM. Sala had a flight booked to return to Rome the following day, which departed without her. She had received an eight-day journalistic visa from the Iranian embassy in Rome to work in the country.
The Italian government has been proactive in responding to the situation. On the morning of December 20, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani were briefed on the incident. The Italian Foreign Ministry’s crisis unit, intelligence services (Aise), and Ambassador to Iran Paola Amadei began addressing the case the night prior. For the first 24 hours of her detention, Sala was denied communication with anyone. Eventually, she was allowed to make two phone calls: one to her family and another to her partner, journalist Daniele Raineri. During these calls, Sala reported that she was well and uninjured, although some phrases she used raised suspicions that she may have been reading a prepared statement. On December 27, Ambassador Amadei was able to meet with Sala in prison to assess her health and detention conditions. Prior to her arrest, Sala had been in Iran for a week, sharing stories about patriarchy in the country and the Iranian comedian Zeinab Musavi, who was arrested by the regime for her sketches.
