Italian reporter Cecilia Sala was arrested in Italy

The Italian journalist has been under arrest in Iran for more than a week, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Cecilia Sala works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media.

The Foreign Ministry said it was following Ms Sala’s case with “maximum attention” after she was detained by Tehran police on December 19.

Iranian officials have not confirmed the arrest.

In a separate statement, Chora Media said Ms. Sala was being held in solitary confinement at Evin Prison in Tehran and that the reason for her detention had not been disclosed.

Italy’s foreign ministry revealed that Rome’s ambassador to Tehran, Paolo Amadei, had visited her to check on her detention conditions, adding that she had been allowed to make two phone calls to the family.

It also said Italy was “working with the Iranian authorities to clarify the legal situation of Cecilia Sala”.

Italian Defense Minister Giudda Crassetta said her arrest was “unacceptable” in a post on social media, adding that Italy was using “high-level political and diplomatic action” to try to secure her release.

According to Chora Media, Ms. Sala left Rome for Iran on December 12 on a valid journalist visa and gave several interviews while producing three episodes of her podcast, Histories.

It added that she was due to fly back to Rome on December 20, but her phone “went silent” after she exchanged several messages on December 19.

The last three episodes of Ms Sala’s Stories podcast, which has nearly 700 episodes and tens of thousands of Spotify streams, heard from a female comedian, a former military commander and a young woman who rejected conservative values.

In the days before her arrest, Ms. Sala was active on social media, posting the topics of her interview and general photos around Tehran.

Sal’s other employer, Il Foglio, called for her release, saying “journalism is not a crime”.

“Cecilia was in Iran on a regular visa to report on a country she knows and loves, a country where information is stifled by repression,” the newspaper said in a statement on its website.

Last week, Iran summoned Switzerland’s ambassador to Tehran and a high-ranking Italian diplomat in connection with the arrest of two Iranian citizens, Reuters reported, citing Iranian media.