ROME (Reuters) – The Italian justice minister has filed a request to revoke the arrest of an Iranian businessman detained in Milan who was wished by the US on suspicion of involvement in a drone strike towards its forces, the justice ministry stated on Sunday.
Mohammad Abedini was arrested in Milan final month on a U.S. warrant for allegedly supplying drone components that Washington says have been utilized in a 2024 assault that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan.
Iran denied involvement within the assault and dismissed accusations that it had imprisoned Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was freed on Wednesday and returned house, in Tehran to stress Rome into launch Abedini.
“Minister (Carlo) Nordio filed a request with the Milan Court docket of Attraction to revoke the arrest of Iranian citizen Abedininajafabadi Mohammad,” a justice ministry assertion stated.
Beneath Italian regulation, courts should abide by the minister’s request.
In his assertion, Nordio wrote that authorized situations weren’t in place to extradite Abedini as that would solely be carried out for offences punishable each in Italy and in the US.
The assertion stated violations of the Worldwide Financial Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) didn’t correspond to conduct recognisable as against the law below Italian regulation. It added there was no proof corroborating the opposite costs of supporting a terrorist organisation.
Earlier this week, Nordio stated the U.S. had not but submitted a proper request to extradite Abedini.