The attorney general of Milan, Francesca Nanni, is set to issue her opinion on the release of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi, an Iranian citizen detained at Malpensa airport on December 16 following a request from the US government, according to Il Giornale newspaper.
Three days after Najafabadi’s detention, on December 19, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested in Iran on unspecified charges of "violating Iranian law." Her arrest is widely regarded as a direct retaliation for Najafabadi’s detention.
This decision by the Attorney General coincides with complex negotiations between the Italian government and intelligence agencies and their Iranian counterparts to secure Sala’s release.
While Nanni's opinion is formally separate from these discussions, it will determine whether house arrest for Najafabadi would be sufficient to prevent his disappearance while awaiting extradition proceedings to the US. A favorable opinion on Najafabadi’s lawyer’s request could be positively received in Tehran.
Iran has officially confirmed Sala’s arrest, with its state news agency IRNA reporting on Monday that the 29-year-old journalist, who works for Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained for "violating the laws of the Islamic Republic."
US authorities allege that Najafabadi supplied materials for a deadly Iran-linked drone attack on American troops in Jordan.
Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in January 2020, a move Trump openly acknowledged ordering.
Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, Deputy Coordinator of the Quds Force, denounced the operation, which also claimed the life of Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, as a violation of international law.
“In my opinion, Trump has rendered the greatest service to the terrorist movement in the world, and he must pay for this pure blood,” Masjedi said on Wednesday on the death anniversary of Soleimani. He questioned the legal and moral grounds of the assassination, calling Soleimani “the main agent in the fight against terrorists.”
The US justified the strike by saying Soleimani was planning imminent attacks on American interests in the region. However, his death escalated tensions between Washington and Tehran, leading to Iranian missile strikes on US military bases in Iraq.
“America must leave the region”
Brigadier General Mohammadreza Naqdi, Deputy Coordinator of the IRGC, also called for the expulsion of US forces from the Middle East, describing the Ayn al-Asad missile strike in 2020 as a decisive statement of intent.
“The world understood how powerful the Islamic Republic is and how weakened America has become,” Naqdi said during an appearance on Iranian state television. However, he added, “America has not yet received its full answer.”
The Ayn al-Asad missile strike occurred on January 8, 2020, as a direct retaliation by Iran for Soleimani's killing. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting the airbase in Iraq, which housed US and coalition forces. Another strike targeted a base near Erbil. This marked the first direct Iranian attack on US forces in decades and was one of the most significant escalations in US-Iran tensions.
The strike resulted in no immediate fatalities among US personnel, reportedly due to early warnings and evacuations.
Iran; however, portrayed the attack as a demonstration of its military capability and resolve.
Naqdi also defended Iran’s extensive role in the Syrian conflict, where Soleimani played a pivotal part in mobilizing Shi’a militias to support President Bashar al-Assad.
“Our presence in Syria was the most rational decision, as we sought to remove a significant threat to the Islamic Ummah,” Naqdi added, referring to Iran’s fight against ISIS.
Brigadier General Asghar Arabpour from Isfahan province also urged Iranian leaders to intensify efforts to hold Trump accountable.
“Addressing this case and Trump’s crimes requires greater seriousness from our country’s officials,” Arabpour said in an interview with ISNA.
He also criticized the broader US foreign policy under both Trump and President Joe Biden, arguing that American administrations prioritize Israeli security at the expense of Middle Eastern stability.
Five years after Soleimani’s targeted killing, Iran officials occasionally speak of revenge, keeping his death a cornerstone of their rhetoric against the United States.
