Italian journalist Cecilia Sala freed from detention in Iran and returning home

ROME — An Italian journalist detained in Iran for three weeks, whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States, was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials said. A plane carrying Cecilia Sala, 29, left Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that the Italian premier had personally informed Sala’s parents of the news. Italian commentators had speculated that Iran detained and held Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a U.S. warrant. 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 reembrace her family and colleagues.” Sala’s fate became intertwined with that of Abedini as each country’s foreign ministries summoned the other’s ambassador to demand the prisoners’ release and decent detention conditions.