IRAN: Three weeks after detaining an Italian journalist for “violating laws,” Iran releases her.

Three weeks after being arrested in Iran, 29-year-old Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was released on Wednesday, January 8. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her family were waiting for her when the plane she was on touched down at the Ciampino airport in Rome. Daniele Raineri, one of Sala’s friends, shared a picture of Sala grinning and welcoming Meloni on social media.

Meloni hailed Sala’s release as a significant win. Her visit to US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago during the period when her nation was negotiating Sala’s release increased her international prominence.

Sala’s release and her flight home were announced by Meloni’s office. Meloni personally told her family about the release, it added, and attributed it to the government’s “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels.”

Three days after entering Tehran on a journalist’s visa, Sala, a reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was arrested on December 19. According to Iranian media, she was detained on suspicion of breaking Islamic Republic laws. Italian diplomats conjectured that Iran held Sala in order to negotiate the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was held in Italy in December. However, Ira refuted the allegation of ink between the two arrests, according to media reports.