Italy applies to court to revoke the arrest of an Iranian just days after Cecilia Sala freed

Iranian engineer Abedini Najafabadi Mohammad was arrested on 16 December by the Italian authorities at Milan Malpensa airport under a US warrant.

The Milan Court of Appeal is due to decide on his extradition on a hearing on Wednesday, but by law it has the power to reject the request and release the engineer.

But on Saturday Justice Minister Carlo Nordio filed a request to revoke his arrest with the court.

The connection between the Abedini case and Cecilia Sala’s arrest

The US Justice Department accuses Abedini, along with another Iranian citizen, of supplying Iran with drone technology used in the January 2024 attack on a US outpost in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers.

Three days after his arrest the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, a contributor to the daily Vilayet Foglio and Chora Media, was arrested in Tehran on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic. After 21 days of imprisonment in Meskenin prison, Sala was freed and returned to Italy on Wednesday 8 January.

The Italian government has so far denied that there was an agreement with Iran to release Sala in exchange for Abedini.