An Italian journalist has returned to Rome after spending weeks in an Iranian jail.
Cecilia Sala, 29, was arrested on 19 December, three days after an Iranian engineer was detained by Italian authorities in Milan on suspicion of supplying drone technology that led to the deaths of US soldiers. Reports said she had been held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Sala was greeted by her partner as she left the plane at Rome’s Ciampino airport before being welcomed home by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is understood to have taken personal charge of her case. A well-known podcaster, Sala’s detention in Tehran outraged Italians and dominated headlines since her employer, Chora Media, broke the news of her arrest on 27 December. It posted a picture of Sala arriving on Wednesday afternoon.
Iran initially claimed Sala was detained for “violation of the Islamic Republic’s laws,” but US state department officials said it could be linked to the arrest of Iranian national Mohammad Abedini at Malpensa airport in Milan on 16 December. He was arrested on a US warrant, and one official told Italian media that Sala was being used as “political leverage.”
It is unclear what led to Iran freeing her, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni cited “intense work through diplomatic and intelligence channels” in a statement. Meloni met US president-elect Donald Trump at the weekend, when the journalist’s detention is thought to have been discussed.
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