The Italian government has summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the detention of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Tehran, calling for her immediate release, the Foreign Ministry in Rome said on Thursday.

Italy has summoned Iran’s ambassador to demand the immediate release of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been detained in Tehran, Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement Friday. She was in Iran on a reporting trip.

Iran confirmed the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for "violating the laws of the Islamic Republic", Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on Monday. Sala, 29, who works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media,

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

Iran has detained one of Italy’s best-known journalists, Cecilia Sala, in Tehran, raising fears that Iranian authorities might be holding her as leverage in their dealings with the West—an increasingly common tactic by authoritarian regimes.

Italy's foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador on Thursday to demand the immediate release of reporter Cecilia Sala, who was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa.

Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday that he had tasked the secretary general of the Italian foreign ministry to summon the Iranian ambassador to Rome and that the meeting is scheduled to take place at midday.