The clash between Italy and Iran is increasingly harsh. A high-voltage tug of war in which Tehran directly links the fate of Cecilia Sala, detained since 19 December in Evin prison, to that of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, arrested three days earlier in Malpensa at the request of the USA.
Accusations against the United States
“Rome rejects the hostage policy of the United States and creates the conditions for the release” of Abedini, otherwise it risks “damaging” relations with Tehran, is the message delivered to the Italian ambassador Paola Amadei, summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning Iranian. An intricate situation from every point of view, human, judicial and geopolitical. And in these delicate hours the family of the Italian journalist has asked for press silence, with the fear that “the great media debate on what can or should be done risks prolonging the time and making a solution more complicated and distant”.
From Opera prison, Abedini had his lawyer write Cecilia Sala’s name on a piece of paper: “I will pray for myself and for her”. The hearing on the request for house arrest is expected on January 15th, to which the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has given a negative opinion. He also wants American justice to remain in prison, pressing for the extradition of the 38-year-old mechanical engineer, accused of conspiracy and material support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Enough to understand the delicacy of every move by the Italian government. Washington “is in contact with allies and partners whose citizens are unjustly detained by Iran”, a US State Department official said, reiterating what he said in recent days, namely that the United States is asking “once again for the release immediate and unconditional treatment of all prisoners arbitrarily detained in Iran without just cause.”
Interlocutions between Rome and Washington, at different levels, also took place yesterday, on the day of the emergency summit at Palazzo Chigi chaired by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with the ministers responsible for the case, that of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani and that of Justice Carlo Nordio , the undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano and the Services.
Mantovano will hold communications “on behalf of the government” at Copasir on Monday at 2pm, meeting the requests of the opposition who, also in compliance with the requests of Sala’s family, have in recent times avoided declarations, as has been done by the majority itself. The government’s strategy, beyond what is obviously covered by the utmost confidentiality, aims first and foremost at immediate release and at obtaining dignified conditions for Sala. In her last phone call, the 29-year-old reporter from Foglio and Chora Media told her family that she had two blankets as a bed in a cell lit 24 hours a day, that her glasses were confiscated and that she was not given an eye mask. . Amadei would have reiterated to the Iranian authorities the request for guarantees on the conditions of detention and consular access in the prison, therefore that packages from the embassy be delivered to Sala and that new meetings with the ambassador be allowed. The journalist’s conditions, Italian sources underline, are decidedly different from those of Abedini at Opera. “All prisoners – remarked Palazzo Chigi in the note after yesterday’s summit – are guaranteed equal treatment in compliance with Italian laws and international conventions”. Formally protesting against this arrest was the objective of Amadei’s summons, received this morning by Majid Nili Ahmedabadi, director for Western Europe of the Tehran Foreign Ministry. The Iranian diplomat claimed that the arrest was “illegal and in line with hostile US political objectives”. And he warned: “Italy should not let our bilateral ties be weakened by the United States.”
Here is the full text of the appeal released by Cecilia Sala’s parents for press silence
“The situation of our daughter, Cecilia Sala, locked in a prison in Tehran for 16 days, is complicated and very worrying. To try to bring her home, our government has mobilized to the maximum and is now needed in addition to the efforts of the Italian authorities also confidentiality and discretion. In recent days we have felt the affection, attention and solidarity of Italians and the world of information and we are very grateful for everything that is being done. The phase we have reached is however, very delicate and the feeling is that the great media debate on what can or should be done risks prolonging the time and making a solution more complicated and distant. This is why we have decided to abstain from comments and statements and we appeal to the media asking for press blackout. We will be grateful for the sense of responsibility that everyone will want to show by accepting our request”.