In January 2024, a drone strike in Jordan results in the death of three U.S. soldiers. The United States blames Iran, but Tehran denies any involvement. In December of the same year, 38-year-old Iranian engineer Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi is arrested at the airport of Milan Malpensa on an FBI warrant.
The charge: exporting technological components to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, then used in alleged terrorist attacks. Abedini, a former researcher at the Lausanne Polytechnic Institute, founded in 2019 a company, Illomove SA,based within EPFL’s Innovation Park.
Only a few days later, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested in Tehran and detained in the prison of Evin, accused of violations of Iranian laws while working on her podcast.
The two events, although officially unrelated, have triggered speculation about possible “hostage diplomacy”. The case underscored the complex dynamics of dependency between Europe and the United States and the tensions with Iran.
Italy had a double diplomatic pressure. On the one hand, the need to secure the release of Cecilia Sala without souring relations with Tehran; on the other, the obligation to evaluate the request for the extradition made by the United States for Abedini. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio has requested the revocation of Abedini’s arrest on Jan. 12, arguing that the crimes charged did not found correspondence in Italian law. The decision allowed the engineer to return to Iran, while Sala had already been freed on Jan. 8.
The United States had demanded Abedini’s arrest and extradition for sanctions violations and support for terrorism. Washington has insisted on the link between the engineer’s technology exports and the attacks in Jordan. The case highlighted how sanctions remain a tool of power to exert influence over allied countries.
For Tehran, Abedini’s return was interpreted as a diplomatic success, the result of negotiations and pressure exerted on Italy. Sala’s arrest, which occurred a few days after that of Abedini, has fueled suspicions of a deliberate strategy to gain concessions. Iran has reasserted its negotiating clout, using the arrest of foreign nationals as geopolitical leverage.
Although the Lausanne’s EPFL has denied any involvement, the affair has reignited the debate about the risks of espionage at Swiss polytechnics. Controls on applications from students from “at risk” countries such as China, Iran and Russia have been intensified to prevent similar situations in the future.
The Abedini-Sala case reflects the fragilities of the European geopolitical balance between legal sovereignty and U.S. pressures. Italy has navigated treacherous waters, demonstrating some autonomy, but the episode raises questions about Europe’s ability to act independently from Washington’s final say.
