The United States has not made any formal extradition request for Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini, who is detained in Milan, Italy's justice minister said in an interview published on Thursday.

"The matter of Abedini is purely legal ... regardless of the (freeing of Italian journalist) Cecilia Sala. It is premature to talk of extradition, also because no formal request has been sent to our ministry so far," Justice Minister Carlo Nordio told daily La Stampa.

Abedini, accused of transferring drone technology to Iran, was arrested at Milan Airport under a US warrant in December. Washington alleges that the technology was used in a February attack near the Jordan-Syria border, which killed three American soldiers—an accusation Iran denies.

His arrest has been linked to the detention of Italian reporter Cecilia Sala, who was seized in Tehran last month while working under a standard journalistic visa and released on Wednesday.