Italy is working “tirelessly” to bring home a journalist who has been under arrest in Iran for more than a week, the country said on Friday.

Cecilia Sala, 29, who works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained in Tehran on Dec 19 but her arrest was only made public on Friday.

The Italian foreign ministry said it was in contact with Iran to clarify Ms Sala’s legal situation and the conditions of her detention, while politicians of all stripes expressed their concern.

“Italy is working tirelessly to free her, pursuing every option,” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto - a key figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government - wrote on the social media platform X, calling the arrest “unacceptable”.

Chora Media said Ms Sala had left Rome for Iran on Dec 12 with a valid journalist visa and had conducted several interviews and produced three episodes of her “Stories” podcast.