Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been detained in Tehran, Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed in a statement released on Friday. Sala, a reporter for the Italian daily Il Foglio, was reporting in the Iranian capital when she was stopped by Tehran police on December 19. The foreign ministry has been in contact with Iranian authorities to clarify Sala's legal situation and verify the conditions of her detention.
Italian Ambassador Paola Amadei visited Sala in prison to assess her conditions and state of detention. Sala had been allowed to make two phone calls to her relatives. Sala, who was in Iran on a regular visa to report on the country, is being held in Tehran’s Evin prison.
