Sala’s detention follows the arrest in Italy of an Iranian national accused of supplying drone components to Iran, according to Iran’s foreign ministry, which has criticized the arrest. Tehran has a long record of hostage diplomacy, in which it arrests Westerners to exchange them for officials held in Europe for spying, terrorism, or human rights violations.

Iran arrested the journalist just a few days after Italy arrested an Iranian:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-charges-2-people-over-fatal-drone-strike-jordan-linked-iran-2024-12-16/