The case of the prominent Italian journalist detained in Iran is a test for Italy’s government as it gets caught up in Iran’s shadow war with the U.S.

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.

Italy's ambassador to Tehran is meeting officials at the Iranian foreign ministry on Friday to present Rome's demands for the release of 29-year-old Italian journalist Cecilia Sala and for dignified conditions until she is freed after her arrest last month.

Complicating matters are indications that Sala's fate has become intertwined with that of an Iranian man who was detained in Italy on 16 December, just three days before her arrest in Tehran. #EuropeN

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.

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

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.