According to the Italian Foreign Ministry, an Italian journalist has been detained in Iran for more than a week.
Cecilia Sala works for the newspaper Il Foglio and for the podcast company Chora Media.
The Foreign Ministry said it was following Ms Sala’s case with “the utmost attention” since she was arrested by Tehran police on December 19.
There was no immediate confirmation of the arrest from Iranian officials.
Chora Media said in a separate statement that Ms. Sala was being held in solitary confinement at Evin Prison in Tehran and that no reason had been given for her arrest.
The Italian Foreign Ministry announced that the Roman ambassador to Tehran, Paola Amadei, had paid her a visit to find out about the conditions in which she was being held, adding that she had been allowed to have two telephone conversations with her to lead family.
It also said that Italy had “cooperated with the Iranian authorities to clarify the legal situation of Cecilia Sala.”
According to Chora Media, Ms. Sala left Rome for Iran on December 12 with a valid journalist visa and conducted several interviews, producing three episodes of her podcast “Stories.”
She added that she was supposed to fly back to Rome on December 20, but her phone went silent after exchanging some messages on December 19.
Sala’s other employer, Il Foglio, called for her release, saying: “Journalism is not a crime.”
“Cecilia was in Iran on a regular visa to report on a country she knows and loves, a country where information is stifled by repression,” a statement on her website said.
Last week, Iran summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran and a senior Italian diplomat over the arrest of two Iranian nationals, Reuters reported, citing Iranian media.
