PARIS — France’s new prime minister, Francois Bayrou, announced Tuesday the renegotiation of a contested plan raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, in a crucial move to seek more stability for his minority government. 

In his first address to lawmakers at the National Assembly, Bayrou said: “I’m choosing to put this subject back on the agenda, with the social partners, for a short time and under transparent conditions.” 

Bayrou vowed to seek “a new path of reform, without any totems or taboos, not even the retirement age,” as long as the financing for the changes is guaranteed. 

President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 unleashed months of mass protests from January to June 2023 that damaged his leadership. 

Bayrou also outlined other top priorities, including key budget decisions, one month after he was appointed by Macron. 

What is Bayrou proposing? 

Bayrou urgently needs to pass a budget bill for 2025. Following the collapse of the previous government, an emergency law has been approved to enable the state to levy taxes from Jan. 1, pay basic expenses and avoid a shutdown. 

But only a proper budget would help reduce France’s deficit and allow key expenses such as defense measures needed amid the war in Ukraine or aid promised to angry farmers. 

Financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission are pushing France to comply with EU rules limiting debt and keep France’s borrowing costs from spiraling. That would threaten the prosperity of eurozone countries. 

France’s deficit is estimated to reach 6% of its gross domestic product in 2024. Bayrou on Tuesday said the government was aiming for a deficit of 5.4% this year, with the goal to reduce it to 3% — in line with EU rules — by 2029. 

Can the government be toppled again? 

Bayrou’s Cabinet relies on a fragile deal between Macron’s centrist allies and conservatives of The Republicans party who even together have no parliamentary majority. 

The previous government was in place for only three months before being brought down by opposition lawmakers from both the left and the far right amid a budget dispute. 

To avoid a repetition of that scenario, Bayrou seeks to secure a nonaggression pact with the Socialists so that they wouldn’t support any future move to topple the new government. 

The Socialists said they are open to talks on the condition that they would include negotiations on the pension reform. 

However, the possibility of another no-confidence vote is still looming. 

The hard-left France Unbowed party refused to enter into talks with the government and already announced it would file a no-confidence motion. 

A vote later this week would have little chance of succeeding as the far right appears unwilling to support such a move in the immediate term. 

Yet the question could be raised again during the future budget debate at parliament, with more uncertainty on the result. 

Why are pension reform talks key? 

The pension reform, which was enacted into law in April 2023 despite mass protests, has gradually started being implemented. It also requires people to work 43 years to receive a full pension. 

The Socialists urged Bayrou to announce a “suspension” of the reform with the aim of backtracking on the age of 64 and introducing specific measures for those who have long careers and certain professions considered to be hard work. 

Bayrou on Tuesday stopped short of announcing such a move, yet his proposal to renegotiate it appears as a hand stretched out towards the left. 

He suggested the age of 64, which was the most criticized change, could possibly be decreased depending on the outcome of the negotiations. 

“We cannot deteriorate the financial balance” of the pension system, Bayrou insisted. 

On the other side of the political spectrum, the conservatives had warned against any suspension of the pension changes. 

“If we were to repeal the pension reform, the cost would be 3.4 billion euros ($3.47 billion) in 2025 and almost 16 billion ($16.3 billion) in 2032,” said the president of the Senate, Gerard Larcher, a conservative. 

Does the far right still have leverage? 

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — was instrumental in ousting the previous government. 

Bayrou consulted her when forming the new government, and Le Pen remains a powerful force. Her National Rally party has the largest single group in the National Assembly, France’s powerful lower house of parliament. 

In recent days, Bayrou’s government sought to sideline Le Pen by negotiating instead with the Socialists, the Greens and the Communists on budget issues. 

The president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, criticized those talks and warned Monday that his party would oppose any budget that would raise the cost of medication, provide more health care for migrants staying illegally in the country and impose new taxes on businesses. Such measures would justify a no-confidence vote, he said. 

But Le Pen faces her own headaches in the months to come — a March court ruling over alleged illegal party financing could see her barred from running for office.
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CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — The prime minister of Moldova’s separatist Transniestria region said Monday that the abrupt curtailment of Russian gas supplies that plunged the region into an energy crisis has also shattered both its exports and imports.

The cutoff, prompted by Ukraine’s refusal to renew an agreement allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine, has led to daily blackouts in the pro-Russian region of some 350,000 people and disruptions in heating and water supplies.

Prime Minister Alexander Rozenberg told local media that the New Year cutoff had triggered a 43% decline in imports and a 60% plunge in exports in the region, which split from Moldova in the final days of Soviet rule.

“The steepest drop in the volume of export operations … has been registered in the metals sector, in manufacture of machines and in the chemical industry,” he said. “Exports of cement have been completely stopped.”

Transniestria depends heavily on assistance from Moscow and its leaders acknowledge that the Russian gas it has long received was provided free of charge as “humanitarian assistance.”

The gas cutoff affects operations at a thermal plant that provides electricity both for Transniestria and much of the area controlled by the central Moldovan government. Its operations have been switched to coal, and Ukraine, Moldova’s eastern neighbor, has offered to provide supplies.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who has spearheaded the country’s drive to join the EU, called a meeting of Moldova’s Supreme Security Council on Tuesday to discuss energy. Both Moldova and Transniestria have proclaimed states of emergency.

Much of Transniestria’s industry has been forced to close or obliged to operate at night, when there is less strain on the power grid.

Among the factories closed are a cement plant and a steel mill in the town of Rybnita, with the latter accounting for 35% of the region’s budget revenue.

The region’s separatist authorities last week said energy savings had enabled them to reduce rolling blackouts from eight hours a day to three by the weekend. But a blackout of five hours had been announced for Monday.

Moldova, which denounces Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, says Moscow fomented the crisis and has suggested shipping gas on a route through Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.

Russian gas giant Gazprom said it will provide no supplies until Moldova settles arrears it estimates at $709 million, a figure disputed by Moldovan authorities.

Transniestria’s leaders say Moldova has done nothing to ease the crisis and reject any notion that Moldova’s government has offered to help purchase power from Western Europe.

More than 30 years after Transniestria waged a brief war against the newly independent Moldovan state, the region continues to exist alongside Moldova with little turmoil. But 1,500 Russian “peacekeepers” remain in the territory and efforts to resolve the separatist dispute have made little headway.
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PARIS — A Frenchman held in Iran since October 2022 on Monday revealed his identity in an audio message broadcast on a French radio station, saying he was becoming increasingly exhausted over his ordeal.

Olivier Grondeau, 34, had previously only been identified by his first name and French authorities had not released details of his case. 

In an audio message aired on France Inter on Monday, Grondeau fully identified himself and warned that he and the other two French detainees held in Iran were “exhausted.”

The other two French nationals currently held in Iran are teacher Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, who were detained in May 2022. They are accused of seeking to stir up labor protests, accusations their families have vehemently denied.

“You, who have the power to influence this matter, hear this truth,” he said in the audio message, apparently addressing the French authorities.

“Cecile’s strength, Jacques’ strength, Olivier’s strength — it is all running out,” he said. “Your responsibility is called upon to ensure the survival of three human beings,” he said.

Grondeau was arrested in Shiraz, in southern Iran, in October 2022, and sentenced to five years in prison for “conspiracy against the Islamic republic,” his mother Therese Grondeau told France Inter.

His family rejects the charges, describing Grondeau as a passionate fan of Persian poetry who was traveling to Iran on a tourist visa as part of a world tour.

On Friday, France summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest Tehran’s holding of the trio, describing them as “state hostages.”

Their “situation is intolerable, with undignified detention conditions that, for some, constitute torture under international law,” the French foreign ministry said.

The tensions have come after an Italian journalist, Cecilia Sala, arrested and jailed in Iran since December, was freed and returned to Rome earlier this month.

Her swift release — in contrast to the prolonged detention of the French nationals —  was the result of “intense work through diplomatic and intelligence channels” by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, her office said. 

Foreign ministries whose nationals have been held by Iran are known to sometimes advise families to keep a low profile and not announce the arrest of their loved ones publicly, in the hope the situation can be resolved behind the scenes.               
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Belgrade, Serbia — Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Belgrade on Sunday switched on the lights on their mobile phones and stood in silence for 15 minutes to commemorate victims of a railway station roof collapse for which they blame authorities. 

The protest was organized and led by students from Belgrade state university who are demanding that those responsible for the roof collapse are brought to justice. 

They blame the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Aleksandar Vucic for corruption and nepotism, which he and the party deny. 

Students at state universities in Belgrade, Kragujevac and Nis have been blockading classes for weeks to demand the release of all documents relevant to the renovation of the station, as well as criminal prosecution of officials responsible for the disaster. 

Every day they block traffic in front of their faculties for 15 minutes to commemorate the 15 victims. 

The concrete awning of the recently renovated roof of Novi Sad station caved in on Nov. 1, killing 14 and injuring three. One of the injured died later. 

Opposition leaders and the public have taken to the streets repeatedly, blaming the accident on shoddy construction resulting from government corruption and nepotism. 

The ruling coalition denies those charges, and Vucic has said those responsible must be held to account. 

“We have been unhappy for years. We came here to express our revolt (with authorities), and to support students,” said Tamara Kovacevic, one of the protesters.
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ZAGREB, CROATIA — Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanovic was the overwhelming favorite to win reelection as he faced a candidate from the ruling conservative party in a runoff presidential vote on Sunday.

The left-leaning Milanovic comfortably won the first round of voting on December 29, leaving his main challenger, Dragan Primorac, a forensic scientist who had unsuccessfully run for presidency previously, and six other candidates far behind.

The runoff between the top two contenders was necessary because Milanovic fell short of securing 50% of the vote by just 5,000 votes, while Primorac trailed far behind with 19%.

The election comes as the European Union and NATO member country of 3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, corruption scandals and a labor shortage.

Milanovic, 58, is an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. He is the most popular politician in Croatia and is sometimes compared to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents.

Milanovic served as prime minister in the past with a mixed record. He has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the pair have long sparred with each other.

Milanovic regularly accuses Plenkovic and his conservative Croatian Democratic Union party of systemic corruption, calling the premier a “serious threat to Croatia’s democracy.”

Plenkovic has sought to portray Sunday’s vote as one about Croatia’s future in the EU and NATO. He has labelled Milanovic “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing.

Primorac echoed this position as he cast his ballot on Sunday. He said the presidential vote was “very important” and “about the future of Croatia, … about the future of our homeland, our citizens, and, really, the direction that it would go from here.”

Political analyst Viseslav Raos said the increasingly outspoken Milanovic has no motive to “try to please someone or try to control himself.”

“If there was no cooperation with the prime minister for the first five years (of his presidency), why would it be now?” he added.

Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme military commander.

Despite limited powers, many believe the presidential position is key for the political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

During a TV debate ahead of the Sunday vote, Milanovic and Primorac exchanged barbs while exposing deep political differences.

Primorac, 59, entered politics in the early 2000s, when he was science and education minister in the HDZ-led government. He unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in 2009, and after that mainly focused on his academic career including lecturing at universities in the United States, China and in Croatia.

Milanovic denied he is pro-Russian but last year blocked the dispatch of five Croatian officers to NATO’s mission in Germany called Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine. He also pledged he would never approve sending Croatian soldiers as part of any NATO mission to Ukraine. Plenkovic and his government say there is no such proposal.

Milanovic accused Primorac of associating with “mass murderers,” referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s associates and the war in Gaza. He also claimed that Plenkovic was Primorac’s sponsor and dubbed Primorac “the last communist” — a reference to his membership of the former ruling Communist Party of Yugoslavia in the late 1980s.

Primorac meanwhile claimed that Milanovic’s only political allies were Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s populist leader Viktor Orban. 
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ISTANBUL — A delegation from one of Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish political parties met a leading figure of the Kurdish movement in prison Saturday, the latest step in a tentative process to end the country’s 40-year conflict, the party said. 

Three senior figures from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) met the party’s former co-chairperson, Selahattin Demirtas, at Edirne prison near the Greek border. 

The meeting with Demirtas — jailed in 2016 on terrorism charges that most observers, including the European Court of Human Rights, have labelled politically motivated — took place two weeks after DEM members met Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). 

While the PKK has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since the 1980s, the DEM is the latest party representing left-leaning Kurdish nationalism. Both DEM and its predecessors have faced state measures largely condemned as repression, including the jailing of elected officials and the banning of parties. 

In a statement released on social media after the meeting, Demirtas called on all sides to “focus on a common future where everyone, all of us, will win.” 

Demirtas credited Ocalan with raising the chance that the PKK could lay down its arms. Ocalan has been jailed on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara since 1999 for treason over his leadership of the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and most Western states. 

Demirtas led the DEM between 2014 and 2018, when it was known as the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and he is still widely admired. He said that despite “good intentions,” it was necessary for “concrete steps that inspire confidence … to be taken quickly.” 

One of the DEM delegation, Ahmet Turk, said: “I believe that Turks need Kurds and Kurds need Turks. Our wish is for Turkey to come to a point where it can build democracy in the Middle East.” 

The armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, which started in August 1984 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, has seen several failed attempts at peace. 

Despite being imprisoned for a quarter of a century, Ocalan remains central to any chance of success due to his ongoing popularity among many of Turkey’s Kurds. In a statement released on December 29, he signaled his willingness to “contribute positively” to renewed efforts. 

Meanwhile, in an address Saturday to ruling party supporters in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-majority southeast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the disbandment of the PKK and the surrender of its weapons. 

This would allow DEM “the opportunity to develop itself, strengthening our internal front against the increasing conflicts in our region, in short, closing the half-century-old separatist terror bracket and consigning it to history … forever,” he said in televised comments. 

The latest drive for peace came when Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party and a close ally of Erdogan, surprised everyone in October when he suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded the PKK. 

Erdogan offered tacit support for Bahceli’s suggestion a week later, and Ocalan said he was ready to work for peace, in a message conveyed by his nephew. 
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MOSCOW — Ukraine launched drone attacks across several regions of Russia, striking two residential houses in the Tambov region and injuring at least three people, Russia said on Saturday.

The regional head, Evgeny Pervyshov, said on the Telegram messaging app people were treated for injuries resulting from shattered windows as drones hit two houses in the town of Kotovsk, about 480 kilometers southeast of Moscow.

He said the buildings were only slightly damaged, the inhabitants were offered temporary housing, and an evacuation was not required.

“Three (people) had cuts from fragments of broken windows, another four complained of high blood pressure,” he said.

Separately, Russia’s defense ministry said it intercepted and destroyed 85 Ukrainian drones overnight in several regions of the country, including 31 drones over the Black Sea, 16 each in the Voronezh and Krasnodar regions and 14 over the Azov Sea.

Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said airports in the cities of Kazan, Nizhnekamsk and Ulyanovsk in the Volga River regions temporarily suspended flights.

A flight suspension in the city of Saratov was also later declared to ensure safety.

Kyiv’s air force said in a statement early on Saturday that Russia launched 74 drones at Ukraine overnight, adding it had downed 47 of them, while 27 others disappeared from radars without reaching their targets.

Both sides in the Ukraine conflict have turned cheap commercial drones into deadly weapons and also increased their production.

Russian and Ukrainian soldiers alike have reported a visceral fear of drones, and both sides have used video footage of fatal drone strikes in their propaganda.

On Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a missile strike on a supermarket in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. 
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GENEVA — The World Meteorlogical Organization says that preventive action cannot avert natural disasters such as the wildfires raging across Los Angeles, but that it can help save lives and mitigate loss of property.

“Land management and prevention, regular clearing of underbrush play a key role in fire management, and evacuation plans are important in saving lives,” the WMO said Friday. “These are all part of effective early warning systems.”

In a briefing to journalists in Geneva, Claire Nullis, a WMO spokesperson, stressed the importance of preparing adequate evacuation plans and early warning systems to prevent some of the worst impacts from a natural disaster.

While acknowledging the staggering losses from the devastating wildfires sweeping across parts of Los Angeles in the United States this week, she said “The early warnings have, in this instance, been very, very good.

“You know, people have been evacuated. It has been impossible to save houses, and the loss of life is still too high, but it has been kept to a relative minimum,” she said.

Media reports say at least 10 people have been killed in this week’s Southern California wildfires, although more bodies are expected to be found once the fires have been contained and searchers can go through the debris.

More than 10,000 structures reportedly have burned, and 180,000 people are under evacuation orders.

While California is no stranger to wildfires, the WMO calls this catastrophic event “extraordinary” in that it is affecting one of the largest cities in the United States.

The WMO said that last year’s rainy season for the Los Angeles area as a whole was slightly above normal, but so far, this year it has been dry.

“The big compounding factor in this context is the winds. … They cause temperatures to rise, and they cause very low humidity, drying out the ground and vegetation,” Nullis said.

The WMO said destructive wildfires have been made worse by climate change.

“Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last decades,” it said, citing data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The WMO said wildfires require the alignment of a number of factors, including temperature, humidity and the lack of moisture in fuels such as trees, shrubs, grasses and forest debris.

“All these factors have strong direct or indirect ties to climate variability and climate change,” it said.

“Obviously, not every single weather-related disaster is due to climate change,” WMO spokesperson Nullis said. “Nobody would say that. But we get quite clear signals that climate change is exacerbating some of these disasters.”

In addition to the loss of life and destruction of homes and other infrastructure that could total billions of dollars in insured losses, the World Health Organization warns that wildfires can have a significant impact on human morbidity and mortality.

“Wildfire smoke, which is a mixture of air pollutants, of which particulate matter is of major concern as it can be full of PM 2.5. This is a very small particulate matter that gets right down into the lungs, and there certainly is a lot of it.” said Dr. Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson.

“A lot of it is associated with premature death in the general population,” she said. “It can cause and exacerbate diseases of lung, heart, brain, the nervous system” and other illnesses.

“It has been shown to lead to cognitive impairment and actually damage your intellectual capacity and lead to memory loss,” she said, adding that firefighters and emergency response workers “are most at risk from exposure to smoke.”

The WHO estimates 4.2 million deaths globally are linked to ambient or outdoor air pollution, with 99% of the global population exposed to air pollution levels that exceed the WHO guideline level for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5).

Harris said more research is needed to understand the long-term health effects of wildfire exposure on vulnerable populations, particularly children, older people, pregnant women and the chronically ill.

“We expect that we will see this over and over again if we do not get what we are doing to the planet under control,” she said.

Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization has officially confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record, “with a global mean temperature of more than 1.5 degrees above the 1850-1900 average.”

“We have just endured the hottest decade on record, with 2024 topping the list,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, noting that “blazing temperatures in 2024 require trailblazing climate action in 2025.”

“There is still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act now,” he said.
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Russia says it is closely watching the situation with Greenland, following US President-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic measures to take control of the territory from Denmark. As Henry Ridgwell reports, geopolitical tensions are growing in the Arctic region amid rapid global warming.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell
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In an exclusive interview with VOA, former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss issued a stark warning against China’s authoritarian ambitions and called for the West to adopt a tougher stance to protect global freedom. Truss laid out her vision for an “economic NATO” to deter Beijing, criticized the Labour government’s soft approach to China, and defended her controversial lobbying for a defense export license involving China.

Click here to read the full story in Mandarin.
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LONDON — Britain will create a new sanctions regime to target the leaders of networks that smuggle tens of thousands of people into Britain each year, as well as the often-Chinese makers of the boats and motors they use, the government said Wednesday.

Under huge political pressure to cut the numbers arriving in small boats from France, the government said the laws would complement other reforms.

“We will target those profiting off putting lives at risk, and disrupt the gangs’ finances,” interior minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement.

The policy was due to be the centerpiece of a speech by foreign minister David Lammy on Thursday, seeking to demonstrate coordination between the foreign and interior ministries.

Lammy said Britain would pursue the makers of the boats used by migrant smugglers.

He told Times Radio many of the manufacturers were from China. Asked by the BBC whether the government would sanction those businesses, Lammy said: “Absolutely, because when you look at those boats, where do the engines come from? Where does the rubber come from?”

The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government said the sanctions would be in place by the end of the year and enable authorities to ban those linked to people-smuggling from entering Britain, punish those trying to do business with them, and freeze assets.

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer was elected in July and immediately ditched the previous, Conservative government’s plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda as a deterrent, instead switching focus to breaking up the gangs that organize crossings.

Migrants from North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere pay thousands of pounds to traffickers for places in small inflatable boats that then try to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping channels to reach the English coast.

Over 36,800 people made the crossing in 2024, 25% more than the previous year, according to government data, while dozens have died in the attempt. 
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An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks was released Wednesday and is returning home, Italian officials said.    

Cecelia Sala was released following “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said.    

The journalist, who contributes to the daily newspaper Il Foglio and hosts the “Stories” podcast for media outlet Chora Media, had been in Iran on assignment and with a journalist visa when she was arrested in the capital, Tehran, on December 19.    

The state news outlet IRNA reported that Sala was being held after “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”   

The 29-year-old journalist was held in solitary confinement at Iran’s Evin prison. While detained, she told family that she had to sleep on the floor of a cell that had lights on permanently.    

Meloni is expected to greet Sala when the journalist arrives in Rome later on Wednesday. “I want to express my gratitude to everyone who helped make Cecelia’s return possible, allowing her to re-embrace her family and colleagues” Meloni said in a statement on X.    

Sala’s father Renato Sala said he was overcome when he learned that his daughter was returning home.    

“I have only cried three times in my life,” he told Reuters. “During this period, I had the impression that a game of chess was being played, but there were more than just two players.”    

The National Press Club in Washington welcomed Sala’s release.    

“Sala’s ordeal was a brazen attack on press freedom and a reminder of the extraordinary risks journalists face to bring the truth to light,” National Press Club president Emily Wilkins said in a statement. “Her freedom is a victory for journalism and for all who stand against the silencing of the press.”   

Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment on Sala’s release.    

Sala was detained three days after Swiss-Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini was arrested in Milan on a U.S. warrant. He is accused of allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in a 2024 attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan.    

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that they believe Sala’s arrest was likely a response to the businessman’s arrest. But Iran has denied that accusation.    

Abedini remains detained in Italy, with a court due to decide next week on his request to be released to house arrest ahead of proceedings to extradite him to the U.S.   

Iran has long arrested foreigners and dual nationals, including journalists, and then used them as bargaining chips in an attempt to draw concessions from other countries, rights groups say. Iran denies the practice.    

American journalist Roxana Saberi was detained by Iran in 2009 and held for around 100 days before being released. And the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian was held for more than 540 days in Iran before being released in 2016 in a prisoner swap. His wife, journalist Yegi Rezaian, was arrested at the same time and detained for 72 days.    

Press freedom groups have said Sala’s arrest underscored the poor state of press freedom in Iran. The country is a leading jailer of journalists and it ranks 176 out of 180 countries on the Press Freedom Index, where 1 shows the best environment.    

Some information in this report came from Reuters and the Associated Press.  

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