ITALY summoned Iran’s ambassador today to demand the immediate release of an Italian journalist detained in Tehran, as the government and opposition ramped up public pressure over the politically sensitive case.

Cecilia Sala, a reporter for the Il Foglio daily newspaper, was detained in Tehran on December 19, six days after arriving on a journalist’s visa.

Tehran confirmed on Monday that Ms Sala had been arrested on charges of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.