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

in Rome – An Italian journalist who was imprisoned in Iran for three weeks and whose fate met that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States, was released on Wednesday and is returning home, Italian officials said.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala He left Tehran after “working hard on the communications and intelligence channels,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala’s parents about the news.

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

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the daily newspaper Il Foglio, was arrested in Tehran on December 19, three days after he arrived on a journalist’s visa. He has been charged with violating the laws of the Islamic Republic, IRNA news agency said, but no details about his violations have been provided by Iranian officials.

Word of Sala’s release was met with joy in Italy, where his plight was in the headlines, as lawmakers hailed successful negotiations to bring him home.

It comes after Meloni made a surprise trip to Florida last weekend to meet with US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Meloni tweeted Sala’s return in a statement to X where he thanked “everyone who helped Cecilia come back, which allowed her to welcome back her family and colleagues.”

Italian analysts had speculated that Iran held Sala as a bargaining chip to secure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days earlier on December 16, on a US warrant. Iranian analysts who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity said the same thing.

The US Department of Justice accused Abedini and another Iranian of providing drone technology to Iran that was used in the January 2024 attack on US territory in Jordan. he killed three American soldiers. He is still in custody in Italy.

Their fate turned into a diplomatic row as each country’s foreign ministry called the other’s embassies to demand the release of the prisoners and appropriate conditions. The saga was particularly difficult for Italy, which is an ally of Washington, but traditionally maintains good relations with Tehran.

Since i 1979 The American Embassy Crisiswhich saw dozens of hostages released after 444 days in captivity, Iran has used prisoners with Western ties as bargaining chips with the world.

In September 2023, five Americans imprisoned for years in Iran were released in exchange for five Iranians in US custody and $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be released by South Korea.

Western journalists have been caught in the past. Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was were held for more than 540 days before being released in 2016 in a prisoner exchange between Iran and the US