The Iranian government state media had in December confirmed that it had arrested an Italian journalist, Cecilia Sala, for allegedly violating Islamic law.
An Italian journalist, detained in Iran for three weeks and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.
The Iranian government state media had in December confirmed that it had arrested an Italian journalist, Cecilia Sala, for allegedly violating Islamic law.
The arrest was swiftly condemned by Italy as “unacceptable.”
Sala, an Italian citizen, entered Iran on December 13, 2024, with a journalist visa, and was detained on December 19, 2024, for breaching the laws of the Islamic Republic, the official IRNA news agency reported, citing a statement from the Iranian Ministry of Culture.
However, Iranian media on Wednesday acknowledged the journalist’s release, citing only the foreign reports. Iranian officials offered no immediate comment.
A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala’s parents of the news.
Word of Sala’s release was met with cheers in Italy, where her plight had dominated headlines, as lawmakers hailed the successful negotiations to bring her home.
It came after Meloni made a surprise trip to Florida last weekend to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Meloni tweeted Sala’s return in a statement on X in which she thanked “all those who helped make Cecilia’s return possible, allowing her to re-embrace her family and colleagues.”
