Tehran protests Italy’s ‘illegal’ arrest of Iranian sought by US

Iran’s foreign ministry on Friday summoned the Italian ambassador to Tehran, protesting as an “illegal act” the arrest of an Iranian national by Italy, a day after a similar summoning in Rome.

“Given the continued detention of Iranian citizen Mr. Mohammad Abedini by Italy, Ms. Paola Amadei, the Italian Ambassador to Tehran, was summoned on Friday,” a statement by Iran’s foreign ministry read.

Abedini, 38, was arrested in Italy last month at the request of American authorities, who have accused him of supplying sophisticated drone navigation technology to Iran’s military, in violation of US sanctions.

US justice authorities have alleged that the components were used in a January 2024 drone strike at a Jordanian military base near the Syrian border that killed three American service members.

“Mr. Abedini’s arrest is an illegal act that was requested by the US government and in line with the proven political and hostile intentions of the country to take Iranian citizens hostage,” the Iranian foreign ministry statement said.

It added that the arrest “not only damages long-standing Iran-Italy relations, but also violates the principles and norms of international law, including human rights rules”.

A second man, American-Iranian Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, 42, was also arrested in the United States and charged with conspiring with Abedini, accusations that Iran denies.

On December 19 and soon after the arrest of the two, Iranian authorities arrested Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, 29, in Tehran.

On Thursday, the Italian foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador in Rome, Mohammad Reza Sabouri, to discuss the case.

Both foreign ministries have requested the “immediate release” of their citizens.

Sala travelled to Iran on December 13 on a journalist’s visa. She was arrested six days later for “violating the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, said the country’s culture ministry, which oversees and accredits foreign journalists.