Iran releases Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was detained for three weeks without any explanation

Rome Italian officials announced that an Italian journalist who was detained in Iran for three weeks, and whose fate was intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States, was released on Wednesday, and will return to his country.

plane carrying Cecilia Sala Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said the plane took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” adding that Meloni informed Sala’s parents of the news.

Iranian media acknowledged the journalist’s release, citing only foreign reports. Iranian officials did not provide immediate comment.

Sala, 29, a reporter for the daily newspaper Il Foglio, was arrested in Tehran on December 19, three days after arriving on a journalist visa. The official IRNA news agency said she was accused of violating the Islamic Republic’s laws, but Iranian officials did not provide any details of her alleged transgressions.

News of Sala’s release was met with cheers in Italy, where her ordeal dominated headlines, with lawmakers hailing successful negotiations to repatriate her.

This came after Meloni made a surprise trip to Florida last weekend to meet US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Meloni tweeted Sala’s return in a statement to Channel X in which she thanked “everyone who helped make Cecilia’s return possible, allowing her to embrace her family and colleagues.”

Italian commentators have speculated that Iran is holding Sala as a bargaining chip to secure the release of Mohamed Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa Airport three days earlier on December 16, on a US arrest warrant. Iranian analysts who spoke with CBS News on condition of anonymity said the same thing.

The US Department of Justice accused Abedini and another Iranian of providing Iran with drone technology used in the January 2024 attack on a US site in Jordan. Three American soldiers were killed. He remains in detention in Italy.

Their fate turned into a diplomatic entanglement, as the foreign ministries of each country summoned the other country’s ambassador to demand the release of the prisoners and the provision of decent conditions for them. This saga was particularly complicated for Italy, a historic ally of Washington but which traditionally maintains good relations with Tehran.

since 1979 US Embassy CrisisAfter releasing dozens of hostages after 444 days in captivity, Iran used prisoners with Western ties as bargaining chips in negotiations with the world.

And in September 2023, five Americans who had been detained for years in Iran have been released In exchange for the release of five Iranians detained by the United States, and South Korea’s release of frozen Iranian assets worth $6 billion.

Western journalists have been detained in the past as well. It was Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian They were detained for more than 540 days before being released In 2016 in a prisoner exchange between Iran and the United States