by Giovanni Giacalone
On December 19th, 2024, at around noon, Italian journalist and reporter, Cecilia Sala was apprehended from her hotel in Teheran and placed under arrest, without any clear reason, by the Iranian authorities.
Sala left Rome for Iran on December 12th, with a regular visa, to conduct interviews and record some episodes for the podcast Stories that she edits for Chore Media. She was supposed to fly back to Italy on December 20th, but she never made it. Her phone suddenly went silent, and none of her Iranian contacts knew what had happened to her.
The following day, she emerged with two brief phone calls, to her mother and her partner, where she said she had been arrested. It is now clear that Cecilia Sala has been in an isolation cell of the infamous Evin prison for a week.
What is the true reason for Sala’s detention by the Iranian regime? Or perhaps we should call it kidnapping? Most likely, a retaliation for the arrest of Iranian citizen and a main asset of the IRGC in Europe, Mohammad Abedini, apprehended on Monday, December 16th, on US request, by the Italian police in Milan’s Malpensa airport after landing on a flight from Istanbul.
Another Iranian connected to Abedini, Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, was arrested in Massachusetts.
As indicated in the December 16th press release of the DOJ, Sadeghi and Abedini have been charged with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of US export control and sanctions laws. Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), that resulted in the deaths of US military personnel; specifically, the January 28th, 2024, drone strike on the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan, that killed three US soldiers and injured more than 40.
According to the FBI, the drone used in the attack carried out by Tehran-backed militias was equipped with a navigation system produced by Abedini’s company.
Abedini graduated from Sharif University, nicknamed “the MIT of Iran”, and was sanctioned by the European Union for its ties with the Iranian government, specifically with the Pasdaran, for the development of ballistic missiles.
After graduating in 2019, Abedini moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and founded Illumove SA, a start-up registered at the Innovation Park of that same Swiss school, as a cover for his previously founded Iranian company, to circumvent the sanctions and purchase components from the United States.
On December 28th, the United States formalized the extradition request for Abedini and now, based on the documentation received from Washington, the Appeal Court of Milan will have to evaluate whether to accept Washington’s request. If the green light is given, the final decision will still be up to the Ministry of Justice, which will have 10 days to make the extradition effective. If convicted, both Abedini and Sadeghi could face sentences of up to 20 years.
Interestingly, as reported last week by Iran International, the Khomeinist regime has been trying from the very beginning to secure the release of Mohammad Abedini, while lamenting “the lack of official notification to the Iranian embassy and the denial of access to Abedini, an Iranian citizen, which makes it a clear example of abduction”.
Of course, there is a clear difference between an arrest made under international law, as in the case of Abedini, and the kidnapping of a private citizen, a journalist. But it is well known that the Iranian regime, the main puppet master of Middle Eastern terrorism, does not acknowledge this distinction.
The fact that Italy is involved in the matter does not help, considering its rather soft positions towards Iran. In this regard, it is worth recalling the statements made on April 14th, 2024, by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, regarding Iran’s aggression against Israel, at a time when even Arab countries have taken action alongside Israel, as well as obviously the United States, France and Great Britain:
“The Iranians have assured us that our Italian soldiers in the area will be respected” (statement made during Stasera Italia TV show on Rete 4).
And again: “The Italian contingent in Lebanon is under the aegis of the UN, it is in a condition to be protected, I don’t think there are any dangers either for the Italian soldiers or for the Italian citizens in Israel and Iran” explained Tajani, who reported that the Farnesina crisis unit had received no reports from Italians in Jerusalem, Amman and Tehran. As for the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the minister explained how he was assured that “only ships that bring weapons to Israel will be attacked“. (Agi – April 14th 2024).
As if it wasn’t enough, Tajani had also added that he was reassured that “As for the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea only ships bringing weapons to Israel would be attacked”.
It must also be recalled that Italy recently came under “fire” due to the inaction by the Italian Unifil contingent against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. On October 15th, 2024, Strategic Advisor to the U.S. Government, Edward Luttwak, who has a long experience and in-depth knowledge regarding Italian political and institutional issues, posted on Twitter:
“I am sorry that the Prime Minister (Italian) defends UNIFIL, which was supposed to keep Hezbollah away from the Israeli border and never did anything while successive commanders were promoted. The Israelis found many assault bunkers a few meters from the UNIFIL sites”.
Positions backed by other facts previously exposed by The Washington Outsider.
Therefore, while it is desirable to see Italy maintain a firm and rigorous line regarding the arrest and potential extradition of Abedini to the United States, nothing can be given for granted.
Potentially giving in to the Iranian regime’s pressure would imply negotiating with terrorists, which is unacceptable as it would also encourage further kidnappings of foreign citizens by Iranian-sponsored terrorism.
One thing is for sure, this is not the proper time for foreign journalists to work in Iran because, especially after Assad’s ousting, the regime is struggling to maintain control, and it is willing to do anything to survive; Sala ended up straight into the regime’s pocket.
The situation is now quite complex as the Iranian regime is most likely using Cecilia Sala as a bargaining chip with the Italian authorities to obtain the release of Abedini, an IRGC asset who is wanted in connection with the murder of three US soldiers. The burden is now on the judges of Milan and the Italian Ministry of Justice, in full knowledge that the United States will not accept Sigonella-style situations.