US, Italy, Iran Are in a Diplomatic Tangle

Iran warned Italy on Friday that it risks harming bilateral relations if it bows to the "political and hostile goals" of the US by detaining an Iranian engineer on an American warrant in connection with a drone attack in Jordan last year that killed three American troops. Tehran issued the warning to the Italian ambassador to Iran, Paola Amadei, who was summoned to the foreign ministry, the official IRNA news agency reported. The meeting took place a day after Italy summoned the Iranian ambassador over the detention of an Italian journalist in Tehran, per the AP.

The back-to-back diplomatic summonses underscored how a three-nation tangle over the fates of the two prisoners was getting more complicated for Italy, which is a historic ally of Washington but generally maintains good relations with Tehran. Mohammad Abedini was arrested by Italian authorities at Milan's Malpensa airport on Dec. 16 on a US warrant. The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost in Jordan that killed three American troops. Three days later, an Italian reporter for the Il Foglio daily, Cecilia Sala, was detained in Tehran on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic, IRNA said.

Italian commentators have speculated that Iran is holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure Abedini's release, and both governments have linked their fates in statements. According to IRNA, a foreign ministry official, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, told Amadei that the continued detention of Abedini was an "illegal act that is done based on the US demand and in line with the political and hostile goals of the country to hold Iranian nationals hostage in various points in the world." Nili demanded the release of Abedini for the sake of "Tehran-Rome bilateral relations." The Milan court of appeals plans a hearing for Jan. 15 on whether to keep Abedini at Milan's Opera prison or grant him house arrest pending the start of the extradition process to the US.

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