Italian journalist Cecilia Sala returns home, freed from Iranian jail

An Italian journalist has returned to Rome after spending weeks in an Iranian prison.

Cecilia Sala, 29, was arrested on December 19, three days after Italian authorities arrested an Iranian engineer in Milan on suspicion of providing drone technology that led to the deaths of American soldiers.

Reports said she was held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

She was greeted by her partner when the plane left at Rome’s Ciampino Airport, before being met by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is understood to have taken personal charge of her case.

The detention of well-known broadcaster Cecilia Sala in a prison in Tehran has angered Italians and has made headlines since the company she works for, Chora Media, announced her arrest on December 27.

It has been published Photo of Sala arriving Wednesday afternoon.

Iran initially said it had detained Sala on charges of “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic,” but US State Department officials said he may be linked to the arrest of Iranian national Mohammad Abedini at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on December 16.

He was arrested on a US warrant, and one official told Italian media that Sala was being used as a “political pressure tool.”

It is not clear what prompted Iran to release her, but the news came in a statement issued by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who referred to “intensive work through diplomatic and intelligence channels.”

Meloni met US President-elect Donald Trump at the weekend, where the journalist’s detention is believed to have been discussed.

Outgoing President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Rome later this week.

Meloni thanked “everyone who contributed to making Cecilia’s return possible.”

Sala’s partner, Daniele Reneri, a journalist, told ANSA news agency: “I spoke to her and she said, ‘I’ll see you soon,’ and she was emotional and very happy.”

Mohammad Abedini is scheduled to appear before a court in Milan on January 15, and Tehran has played down in recent days any connection between the two cases.

The head of Italy’s foreign intelligence service, Giovanni Caravelli, is said to have personally traveled to Tehran to return Sala to Italy.

Her father, Renato Sala, told ANSA he was proud of her and praised the government for the “extraordinary work.”

He said he had the impression that the situation had turned into “a chess game, but with more than two players.”

Renato Sala also thanked Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, noting that they had lived close to each other for 12 years and had become friends.