Iran's Ministry of Culture confirmed the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for "violating the laws” of the country, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.
Cecilia Sala, 29, who works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, according to the Italian foreign ministry.
The case of the Italian journalist is "complicated,” but Rome hopes to bring Sala home quickly, Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said on Saturday.
Tajani said he hoped the issue could be resolved quickly but added: "It doesn't depend on us."
"We're trying to solve an issue that's complicated," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANSA.