Iran releases Italian journalist 3 weeks after detaining her for 'violating laws'

A 29-year-old Italian journalist, Cecilia Sala, was freed on Wednesday (Jan 8) three weeks after she was detained in Iran. She was aboard a plane that landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was waiting for her along with her family. One of Sala's companions, Daniele Raineri, posted a photo on social media showing Sala smiling and greeting Meloni. 

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Sala's release was marked as a major victory by Meloni. Her international stature enhanced after she visited US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago at the time when Sala's release was being negotiated by her country. 

È in volo l'aereo che riporta a casa Cecilia Sala da Teheran.
Grazie a un intenso lavoro sui canali diplomatici e di intelligence, la nostra connazionale è stata rilasciata dalle autorità iraniane e sta rientrando in Italia. Ho informato personalmente i genitori della giornalista…

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) January 8, 2025

Meloni's office announced Sala's release and the news that she was flying home. It further added that Meloni personally informed her family about it and credited the release to the government’s “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels.”

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Sala is a reporter working at the Il Foglio daily and was detained in Tehran on December 19, just three days after arriving there on a journalist visa. She was arrested on the accusation of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic, as per the Iranian media. 

Italian diplomats speculated that Iran detained Sala to bargain the release of Mohammad Abedini in Italy, who was detained in December. Although, as per the media reports, Iran denied the claim. 

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The US has accused Abedini as one of the Iranian nationals who supplied drone technology to Iran that was used in the January 2024 attack on the US outpost in Jordan. The attack killed three American troops. 

After her arrival, Meloni posted on the social media platform X and thanked everyone "who helped make Cecilia’s return possible, allowing her to re-embrace her family and colleagues.”

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(With inputs from agencies)