Italian journalist Cecilia Sala released from Iran jail, returns home

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has returned home after being detained in Iran for three weeks. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani welcomed the 29-year-old journalist in Rome on Wednesday, highlighting the political significance of the case.

Sala, a writer and podcast host, was detained in Tehran on December 19 while holding a regular journalist visa, accused of “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic.” Tehran has denied speculation that her arrest was linked to Rome's detention of an Iranian businessman, who the U.S. accuses of involvement in attacks on American forces.

News of Sala’s release sparked jubilation in Italy, where her plight had dominated headlines. Lawmakers hailed the negotiations that successfully secured her return, a move that has been seen as a major political gain for Meloni. “I want to thank everyone who contributed to Cecilia’s return, allowing her to embrace her family and colleagues again,” Meloni posted on X. She also added that she had personally informed Sala's parents of her release.

Sala, a reporter for the newspaper Il Foglio, was held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, despite holding a regular journalist visa. Her detention came three days after Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport on a U.S. warrant. The U.S. Department of Justice accuses Abedini and another Iranian of providing drone technology to Iran that was used in the January 2024 attack on a U.S. outpost in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers.

Italian commentators speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip. Iran has frequently been accused of using prisoners with ties to the West for such purposes. In September 2023, five Americans who had been imprisoned in Iran for years were released in exchange for five Iranians and the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets held by South Korea. Western journalists have also been detained in the past. American journalist Roxana Saberi was released in 2009 after being held in Iran for nearly 100 days.

However, Tehran has strongly denied any link between the two cases. Abedini remains in detention in Italy. Meloni's statement said Sala's release was “thanks to close collaboration between diplomatic and intelligence channels.” However, there was no mention of Abedini's case in the statement. The Italian prime minister met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend, reportedly to discuss the case. No details of the talks were released, but unconfirmed media reports stated that Trump had agreed to broker a deal to secure Sala's release, on the condition that it happened before his inauguration on January 20.