Iran said Monday that Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist held in Evin Prison since December 19 possibly in retaliation for the Milan arrest three days earlier of a Swiss-Iranian businessman accused of arms trafficking by the US,

The Foreign Media General Directorate of the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has announced that Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained on December 19, 2024, for violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested on Dec. 19, just six days after arriving in Tehran where she had conducted a series of interviews for her podcast series.

The 29-year-old has reportedly been in solitary confinement in a cell in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran since 19 December

Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said that Sala's arrest was carried out under relevant regulations and she was granted consular access. She has also contacted her family by phone.

Iranian state media on Monday confirmed the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for allegedly “violating the laws of the Islamic republic.”

Iran on Monday officially confirmed the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, State media reported. Rome-born Sala, 29, Il Foglio's freelance correspondent and a podcaster for Chioa News, was reportedly arrested and taken to Tehran's notorious Evin Prison on December 19,