Italy has demanded that Iran release a journalist who has been in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison for more than a week. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that she wanted to bring reporter Cecilia Sala "home as quickly as possible.

Her phone suddenly went silent, none of her Iranian contacts knew what had happened to her, but the following day the journalist made two very short phone calls, one to her mother and one to her partner,

Cecilia Sala, 29, was arrested on Dec. 19, but news of her detention only became public on Friday. The reason for the arrest of Ms. Sala, a well-known reporter, has not been made public.

Prominent Italian journalist and podcaster Cecilia Sala has been arrested in Iran and incarcerated in Tehran's infamous Evin prison.

The arrest comes as regimes increasingly resort to seizing Westerners for leverage.

Italy’s foreign ministry says an Italian journalist who was reporting in Tehran has been detained by the Iranian police

Italy's Foreign Ministry says it's trying to "clarify the legal situation of Cecilia Sala" more than a week after she was detained while reporting in Iran.