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Turkey Detains 2 Suspects Over Espionage for Iran

Turkish soldier near Iranian border (File photo: EPA)
Turkish soldier near Iranian border (File photo: EPA)
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Turkey Detains 2 Suspects Over Espionage for Iran

Turkish soldier near Iranian border (File photo: EPA)
Turkish soldier near Iranian border (File photo: EPA)

Turkish authorities have detained two individuals, an Iranian and a Turkish national, on suspicion of espionage, a senior official announced Wednesday.

The two alleged spies were detained as they plotted to kidnap and forcibly repatriate a former Iranian military official from the eastern Turkish province Van, which borders Iran, an unnamed government official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

According to the official, six local "collaborators" were also arrested in a joint operation by the Turkish National Intelligence Agency and Turkey's police.

He did not reveal the identity of the two suspects or the reasons behind the attempted kidnap of the former Iranian military official.

Turkey and Iran have historically had close economic ties but occasionally stand at opposite sides in regional conflicts, including Syria.

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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before 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 near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.